LISTEN: Sexual Assault of Lisa Dunleavy

A Galway mother has come forward to highlight the difficulties and delays faced by her young daughter who was the victim of a sexual assault as she tried to pursue her case through the court system.  

Former agricultural contractor and bus driver 65-year-old Laurence Finn from Kinreask, Gurteen, Ballinasloe pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting Lisa Dunleavy at her home in Castleblakeney on July 22nd 2016, moments before his trial was due to begin before a jury at Galway Circuit Court last November. 

Following his sentencing hearing last Monday, October 12th, Finn was automatically placed on the Sex Offender’s register while a three-year sentence now also hangs over him if he does not comply with the recommendations of the probation service over the next 12 months.  

Lisa Dunleavy was 16 at the time of the assault in 2016 but last Monday waived her right to anonymity so that her attacker could be named.  

Lisa and her mother Lorraine Dunleavy sat down with Sally-Ann Barrett to highlight their experience of the court’s process for a victim and their family.