Richard Leonard s.j. (Xavier College Scholastic 1991)
with Paul McMahon
1988 Mr. P. McMahon s.j. Xavier College.
1987 Education
University of Melbourne
Dec 2001 – Jun 20108 years 7 months
Managing Editor Paulist Press
Jul 2010 – Jun 20133 years
Director Of Development
Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative
Culver City, California
Sep 2013 – Feb 20195 years 6 months
Acquisitions Editor Paulist Press
Feb 2019 – Present10 months
Editor At Large at Orbis Books
Maryknoll, New York
A former Xavier College student says:
McMahon abused several members of the boarding house.
McMahon made a sexual pass at me as well.
His behaviour involved grooming the boys with massage and supplying alcohol and it
progressed to sex play and fellatio.
Another former student says:
McMahon propositioned me in 1988. I was a boarder in Year 11. McMahon was sniffing around the junior boarders, so I warned a few to avoid him.
He was majorly gay - quite effeminate with lustrous long blonde hair which clearly received a lot of attention.
One day a year 10 boarder told me McMahon wanted to see me. I ignored it.
The same year 10 boarder came back a few days later and said McMahon absolutely demanded to see me.
I have no idea why McMahon couldn't ask me himself.
Apparently he wanted to investigate claims that I was performing Satanic rites in the attic above the study hall.
It used to be a shower block for boarders.
Needless to say I was not performing Satanic rites, I just liked exploring all of the school buildings.
So one evening I went over to the Jesuit accommodation block. It was very quiet.
I found McMahon in a large study. He said he wanted to talk to me about Satanic rites.
I said the claims were utter bullshit, and it was odd that an adult would even begin to take them seriously.
He tilted his head and asked me in a very soft, seductive voice for me to come close to him.
I was standing in the doorway at the time. I paused and thought, what's going on here?
Then McMahon came out from behind a desk and gestured for me to stand next to him.
It was a proposition, pure and simple.
You know when someone is hitting on you, and McMahon was hitting on me.
I just said 'No thanks', didn't wait for a reply and left.
He never bothered me again. He was frequently pestering other boarders though.
I don't think he had any official role in the boarding house at all.
I suspect that he heard rumours of me getting up to no good in the attic
and he might have thought, ah ha, he's sneaking up there to engage in sexual activity. Just a guess.
Paul McMahon on video.
Prop 34: Hope for Life Again - October 26, 2012 5:21 pm
During this Respect for Life Month (October), Paul McMahon of the Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative (JRJI)
offers his comments regarding abolishing the death penalty and California’s Proposition 34.
http://theinnetwork.org
https://www.youtube.com