A ballet teacher from County Galway has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment, with the final year suspended, following his conviction for sexually assaulting two young girls at a dance school in County Mayo. Leighton Morrison, aged 49, of Tuam, pleaded guilty to six sample charges from thirteen offences committed between January 2023 and June 2024. At Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court, he was convicted of sexual assault against children aged eight and nine, child exploitation, and possession and production of child sexual abuse material. The court heard Morrison filmed himself committing the assaults in a costume storage room used by his dance schools. Judge Eoin Garavan stated Morrison posed a grave danger to children and would never have unsupervised access to them. The victims' mothers delivered impact statements describing severe trauma and long-term psychological effects on their daughters. Morrison, remanded in custody since July 2024, must complete a sex offenders' programme and undergo probation supervision for one year following release.
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Original report plus public source leads and related archive reports used for review context.
Public source leads
- Ballet teacher who sexually abused young girls is jailed for seven years - The Irish Times The Irish Times · Fri, 07 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT
- Paedophile ballet teacher tried to resume classes after his arrest for sexually assaulting child - Irish Independent Irish Independent · Sat, 08 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT
- Dance teacher is jailed for sexual abuse of young pupils - westernpeople.ie westernpeople.ie · Fri, 07 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT
- Paedophile dance teacher 'robbed' Mayo children of their childhood and innocence - The Mayo News The Mayo News · Thu, 06 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT
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