Fr John (Jack) Leonard, one of the 15 deceased Jesuits named by the order on Wednesday as having been the subject of child sex abuse complaints, was “a bully and violent and took pleasure in it,” a former student of Belvedere College, Dublin, has said.
“He walked around with a leather strap in his pocket and it was pretty indiscriminate,” said the former student, who did not want to be identified and is a member of a WhatsApp group of former students of the north Dublin fee-paying school from the 1960s and early 1970s.
“We didn’t know about the sex abuse at the time. All we knew was that he was violent,” he said.
However, Leonard, a teacher of classics and prefect of studies, was known for making some boys take down their trousers and beating them on the bare bottom. He would also take boys to a separate room to beat them.
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According to the document published by the order on Wednesday, Leonard also taught at Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare, and Sacred Heart College, Limerick.
There have been four child sex abuse complaints against him, and also complaints about physical violence, according to the order, all relating to his time at Belvedere. He died in 1992.
“We are not aware of any complaints of child sex abuse being made against Fr John (Jack) Leonard SJ during his lifetime,” it said. “However it is acknowledged that his bullying and physically abusive behaviour was known in the school at the time.”
The Catholic Diocese of Raphoe in Co Donegal noted that Fr Diarmuid Ó Péicín, who ministered in the diocese between 1980 and 1984, had been named by the Jesuits on Wednesday.
Ó Péicín retired to Tory Island, off the coast of Donegal, after returning from working in Africa, and took up the cause of fighting against the island’s depopulation, for which work he was highly regarded.
According to the order, there are two complaints of child sex abuse against Ó Péicín and one third-party complaint of child sex abuse.
In 1964 the superior of an order of nuns made a complaint with the Jesuit provincial about Ó Péicín’s conduct with schoolgirls during a school retreat, after which, according to the order’s records, he was removed from retreat work.
“However, there is no information showing that any follow-up in this regard happened with him.”
In 2004, Ó Péicín was the subject of another complaint, after which he was required to step aside from public ministry. Another complaint was made in 2005. The complaints were referred to An Garda Síochána and the HSE but, the order said, the Director of Public Prosecutions issued a direction not to prosecute following a Garda investigation. He died in 2008.
“The information now placed in the public forum by the Jesuits is hugely disappointing for those who held Fr Ó Péicín in such esteem, not least for his advocacy for the rights of islanders,” said Monsignor Kevin Gillespie, Diocesan Administrator, Diocese of Raphoe.
“It adds to the sad litany of hurt compounded by the failure to act adequately to protect the children entrusted in their care. I sincerely apologise to those who have been directly affected, their families and wider community.”
The purpose of the release of information by the Jesuits was to encourage others to come forward who may not have had the strength to do so before now, he said.
“Therefore, I encourage anyone who may have been abused, or is suspicious of any abuse, to report it to the State authorities, the diocesan safeguarding office, or the Jesuit safeguarding office immediately.”
A spokeswoman for the Jesuits said there has been a “steady flow of calls and emails to the safeguarding office since the announcement”.
The Jesuits have a redress scheme which, if used, can lead to compensation payments, with the order also paying a claimant’s legal fees, up to certain prescribed limits.
In all, including cases settled outside or inside the scheme, a total of €11.3 million has been paid out to date, excluding payments for claimants legal fees, the spokeswoman for the order said. The safeguarding service can be contacted at safeguarding@jesuit.ie
