Father Lawrence (Laurence) Leonard

Lawrence Leonard was born in August 1944 and is a member of the religious order Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits. NSW court records show that Mr Leonard entered the Jesuits in August 1962 as a Novitiate and became ordained as a priest on 4 December 1993.

It is known that Mr Leonard taught/served at the following schools/institutions:

• St Ignatius’ College Riverview (Sydney) - 1968 to 1984 (teacher in the junior school);

• Xavier College (Melbourne) - 1987 to 1990 (chapel master, registrar and spiritual director); and

• Corpus Christi Seminary (Melbourne).

It is further reported that Mr Leonard left teaching after working at Riverview, serving as a Priest in Victoria.

In 2017, NSW Police started investigating Mr Leonard in relation to allegations made by a former student of St Ignatius who accused him of sexually assaulting him while he was playing on the basketball courts during recess.

In June 2024, after a jury trial of 12, Mr. Leonard was found guilty of two offences of indecent assault and was given an aggregate head sentence of nine months, with a non-parole period of three months.

Moody Law has in the past and is still representing clients who have made allegations of sexual and physical abuse against members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

We invite former victims to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

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