Former Christian Brother accused of repeated sexual abuse

Under cross-examination by defence barrister Gary McHugh KC, the man rejected the suggestion that his motivation was compensation.

Saying he has never made a claim, the complainant said: “This isn’t about money”.

Mr McHugh then told the complainant that his client Mr Dunleavy denied allegations of sexual abuse, but the complainant reiterated his stance and said: “I can categorically state the majority of my abuse took place during my third year at Gortnamona” and named Mr Dunleavy as his abuser.

When the defence barrister pointed out that he told police in his interview that Mr Dunleavy had shown him kindness at school, the complainant broke down again and tearfully told the court, “At the time, I believed what Mr Dunleavy was doing to me was a sign of affection.”

Mr McHugh then spoke of the complainant’s “resentment” towards other teachers and pupils at the school and said to him, “when you saw the news reports, you were using this as an outlet for all your resentment. You thought ‘Dunleavy will do’ and that’s what prompted you.”

At this point, the clearly emotional complainant replied: “Not at all, quite the opposite. I have lived with this for many years, and I would never do such a thing.”

The jury of six men and six women has already been told that Mr Dunleavy has been convicted on two separate occasions of a series of sexual offences against children in his care at a number of schools where he taught.