A FORMER Christian Brother teacher and school principal has been sentenced to a further ten years in prison for historical sex abuse against young schoolboys.
Paul Dunleavy (89), of Glen Road in West Belfast, was found guilty of 36 charges of historical sexual abuse. The offences are alleged to have been committed on dates between 1964 and 1991 when he worked at four schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh.
In West Belfast Dunleavy taught at St Aiden’s Christian Brothers Primary School between 1973-77, later becoming headmaster between 1980 and 1985. He was also headmaster at Gortnamona Secondary School between 1985-87.
On Thursday, he was sentenced to a further ten years in prison. He is already serving a prison sentence having been convicted previously on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children in his care. He will begin serving his latest sentence in May 2026 when his current sentence ends.
In total, he has been convicted of 72 counts involving 18 victims across three trials.
Head of the PSNI's Public Protection Branch, Detective Chief Superintendent Lindsay Fisher said: “Dunleavy used his trusted position as a respected and influential member of the community to carry out his offending. He abused young boys in school, home and other public spaces. We now know that Dunleavy’s abuse has even involved multiple children within the same family, causing untold long-lasting psychological damage.
“Predators of this type are incredibly manipulative, and invest a lot of time building trust and embedding themselves within communities to carry out their offending while hidden in plain sight.
“Our thoughts today are with the victims that this man preyed on, and abused for so many years. Their evidence was devastating, and their testimonies too strong to deny.
“Working in partnership with the Public Prosecution Service, Dunleavy has now been convicted of a total of 72 non-recent sexual abuse offences involving 18 victims, however it is likely that this is just a small percentage of the children Dunleavy has abused.
“It takes huge courage to speak out to break the cycle of abuse. We want to pay tribute to those who worked with our dedicated detectives, and remember those who, sadly, died before they could see justice be done. There is no doubt that Dunleavy’s victims were let down.
“I am sure that learning of the severity of his offending today will send shockwaves throughout the country. Since the media ban on reporting was lifted, a number of further victims have come forward, and we believe there may be many more who have not yet had the confidence to speak to us.
“Please don’t suffer in silence. We will listen to you and we will act. It doesn’t matter when the abuse happened, we will still investigate and work to bring abusers before the courts as we have done today. There is only one place for Dunleavy and that is behind bars. He will die in prison.
“We strongly encourage anyone who has experienced any form of sexual abuse, or has knowledge of abuse taking place to report this to Police on 101, or in an emergency on 999. We will listen, treat you with respect and act to keep you and others safe.”
