A ballet teacher who recorded himself sexually assaulting two girls in a costume storage room has been jailed for seven years.
Leighton Morrison (49), of Woodfield, Galway Road, Tuam, Co Galway, made the recordings of him sexually assaulting the children, aged eight and nine, in separate incidents, after making them wear inappropriate clothing, a court has heard.
Morrison ran three dance schools across counties Mayo and Galway.
He pleaded guilty to six sample charges from a total of 13 offences committed on dates between January 2023 and June 2024.
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The charges include two counts of sexual assault against an eight-year-old girl and a nine-year-old girl, exploitation of a child, and possession and production of child sexual abuse material.
He was sentenced at Castlebar Circuit Court on Thursday to eight years in prison with the final year suspended. A probation report said he was at high risk of reoffending and must never have unsupervised access to children again.
Judge Eoin Garavan said that no matter how long Morrison remained in jail, he would remain a paedophile, at high risk of recidivism and a grave danger to children.
It was extremely aggravating that Morrison had recorded himself committing the abuse to ensure a permanent record of it for his own deviant sexual gratification, the judge said.
A prosecuting garda told the court the abuse came to light in March 2024, after the then nine-year-old girl’s father noticed she was not her normal self after ballet class.
She said something had happened with her teacher and later told her mother that Morrison had made her wear underwear with the crotch cut out and had touched her inappropriately.
The court heard the child had attended a Stay Safe programme in school weeks earlier, which had enhanced her awareness of inappropriate behaviour.
The parents contacted gardaí the following day and spoke to another mother, who said her daughter had been sexually assaulted by Morrisson, possibly a year earlier, at the same dance school.
The girl said Morrison had asked her to try on a costume and touched her private parts, saying: “It needs to be stretched”. The child said she was near tears when he zipped down her top and touched her. She said she cried on the journey home.
The second child told her mother that Morrison once helped her change her clothes, which she found strange as she could dress herself. She described two occasions when he touched her genitals and she felt embarrassed and did not know if it was intentional. The child said she did not want “to be rude and get away”, so she sat there.
In a victim impact statement delivered earlier this week, one of the girl’s mothers said her daughter was once a happy-go-lucky girl but she endured years of anxiety, health problems and nightmares since joining the dance class and would bite her fingernails until they bled.
The woman said the child has “had to defend herself from an evil most grown-ups will never have to know”.
“She will never be the same ... She has already lost years of what was supposed to be the happiest time of her life,” the mother said.
The other victim’s mother said her daughter used to sing and dance around the house, but this has stopped and she sometimes just lies on the floor.
Her daughter has expressed feelings of self-hatred and blame.
The woman said it was incredibly distressing for her daughter to have to be examined at a sexual assault treatment unit.
Judge Garavan said Morrison “robbed these young children of their innocence and childhood”, and the girls will never get over this “appalling abuse”.
On a device seized from Morrison’s home, gardaí found more than 1,000 images depicting child sexual activity or exposure.
Morrison has no previous convictions. His sentence was backdated to July 2nd, 2024, since which he has been in custody.
He must undergo probation supervision for a year after his release, during which time he must get counselling and complete a sex offenders’ programme.
Morrison was arrested and made no comment during four Garda interviews. The court heard he gave gardaí the devices’ pin numbers and said he was sorry.
Desmond Dockery SC, defending, said Morrison asked him to offer his deepest apologies for his crimes.
Mr Dockery said Morrison’s actions were selfish and premeditated. He had abused his position and authority as the owner and provider of the ballet classes, as well as abusing the trust of parents.
The court heard Morrison had a difficult childhood and had been physically, emotionally and sexually abused.
Counsel said Morrison, originally from the UK, had performed ballet at a high level worldwide.
He settled in Ireland but experienced the collapse of his business and isolation during Covid, which led to his increasing reliance on alcohol and descent into viewing child abuse material.
