Christian Brother jailed for child sex abuse dies

Paul Dunleavy, a Christian Brother and former teacher, was serving a prison sentence at Maghaberry

A Christian Brother and former school principal who was convicted of historical child sex abuse has died.

Paul Dunleavy was sentenced to 10 years in prison in November 2024 after being convicted of 36 charges against former pupils.

The offences were committed on dates between 1964 and 1991 while the 89-year-old worked at four schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service said an "89-year-old male prisoner from Maghaberry" died "at an outside hospital" on 26 August.

Dunleavy was already serving a prison sentence having been previously convicted on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children in his care.

He was due to begin his latest sentence in May 2026 when his previous sentence was to end.

In total, he was convicted of 72 counts involving 18 victims across three trials.

At the time of his sentencing, he was still a Christian Brother despite his convictions.

The Christian Brothers is a Roman Catholic lay organisation formed more than 200 years ago for the purpose of educating Catholic boys.

BBC News NI had asked the organisation if they had a response to Dunleavy's victims' calls for both an apology and clarity from them on what they knew about his offending, and when.

The organisation declined to comment, but said: "The congregation cannot comment on matters that are the subject of ongoing proceedings."