A victim of former Christian Brother Paul Dunleavy has said the convicted sex offender “destroyed” his life.
The man was speaking after the 88-year-old was found guilty of 36 sexual offices at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday.
After his conviction, one victim revealed how Dunleavy abused him as a schoolboy, aged between 10 and 11, more than 50 years ago.
The victim, who does not want to be named, was singled out by Dunleavy when he attended Abbey Christian Brothers PS in Newry in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Dunleavy was convicted for a catalogue of sex offences committed at Christian Brothers schools in Belfast, Co Armagh and Co Down while he was a teacher and later principal.
A jury was directed to find him not guilty on one count of indecent assault.
The offences against nine male complainants were committed between 1964 and 1991.
He is due to be sentenced next month.
One victim, now aged in his sixties, told The Irish News how his abuser “destroyed” his life and revealed how he tried to take his own life several times.
“He destroyed my life, he really did,” the man said.
“He nearly destroyed my marriage. It has affected my children awfully. I feel very low about that because it has brought up a lot of sad memories to me.”
The man also revealed how he was admitted to a psychiatric and told how he was addicted to alcohol and hash before kicking both habits 16 years ago.
He explained how he only told his wife about his abuse several years ago despite being married for 35 years at the time.
“I only told my wife six years ago in a very cowardly way – by text in the middle of the night,” he said.
“It was an all-time low. I had not uttered a word her to her before then because I was scared of losing her.
“It affected our marriage a lot.”
The courageous victim spoke about how he first went to the police six years ago last weekend.
“I went to a friend of mine in Newry and I told him what had happened and he said he would come with me to the police station,” he said.
“I never thought it was going to take this long, not for one moment.”
The brave victim said that he was anxious before the trial began.
“I was panicking that we were not going to get a conviction and I could not go into court when they were reading out the indictments, I could not stomach it,” he said.
The man explained how harrowing the trial process was for him.
“It was my first time in a courthouse,” he said.
“It was the most daunting thing. I had been getting sick previous to the trial. I was violently sick after I gave my evidence in the trial.”
He said the conviction of his abuser has left him feeling “all mixed up” but he is happy with the result.
“We got the right outcome, we got him,” he said.
It emerged during the trial that Dunleavy was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year for 23 historical child sex offences.
The victim hopes for a harsh sentence in his case.
“I just hope now they can keep him and throw away the key,” he said.
“Never let him see the outside of a prison again, may he rot in it.
“All the lives he has destroyed and there were men involved in this trial who have passed before they got their day in court.
“And there will be men behind me who won’t get their day in court.”
The man said Dunleavy showed “no remorse whatsoever” adding that he will never get over his experience “properly”.
Despite his ongoing trauma he believes he eventually “got justice”.
“That’s what I wanted,” he added.
His solicitor, Owen Beattie of Owen Beattie and Co Solicitors, who represents many of Dunleavy’s victims said: “Today’s conviction is a welcome vindication.
“We look forward to engaging with the Christian Brothers and other stakeholders to secure full accountability and transparency as to the extent and scale of historical abuse perpetrated within the school environment.”
