James Gilleran jailed for two years over abuse of three boys

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Judge Orla Crowe sentenced James Gilleran to two years’ imprisonment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 13 May 2025. The proceedings were reported on 14 May 2025.

Gilleran pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on dates between 1983 and 1987. He was a scout leader in Dublin, and the three boys were aged between 11 and 13 when the abuse took place.

One of the men recognised Gilleran on The Late Late Show in 2021, when he appeared as a volunteer for the Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day campaign. He contacted another complainant and a third also came forward; the men made formal complaints to gardaí.

Gilleran had a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a boy in a cerebral palsy clinic. He received a four-year sentence in 1997, reduced to two years on appeal.

The Irish Cancer Society said it reported the allegations to gardaí, Tusla and Scouting Ireland after learning of them, and that Gilleran’s fundraising role ended. It said his work involved fundraising in public places and media work and that he would not have had unsupervised access to children or vulnerable people in that role.