Paul Bleakley
Assistant Professor
Areas of Expertise
- CJ323 Criminal Justice Foundations
- CJ419 Ethics in Criminal Justice
- CJ580 Cyberdeviance and Cyberviolence
Highlighted Publications
- Bleakley, P., Sailofsky, D., & St Matthews, M. (2026). “Rules for Thee but Not for Me”: Public Sentiment and Expectations of Privilege in the Criminal Legal System in the Diddy Case. Deviant Behavior, 1–18.
- Bleakley, P. (2025). Holding back the tides? Applying the Canute paradox to the regulation of cyberdeviance. Criminology & Criminal Justice.
- Bleakley, P., & McCarthy, K. (2024). The appeal of abuse: the public popularity of online image-based abuse in the early 2010s. Sexuality & Culture, 28(3), 964-982.
Student & Research Availability
- Accepting Students in Programs: Bachelors | Doctoral | Masters
- Research or Interest Area Key Words: cyberdeviance; online harms; cyberstalking; image-based abuse; corruption; historical criminology
Alma Mater
PhD - University of New England (2019) Master of Arts (English) - University of New England (2012) Master of History - University of New England (2011) Master of Policing, Intelligence and Counter-terrorism - Macquarie University (2009) Graduate Diploma in Education - Griffith University (2009) Bachelor of Journalism - Griffith University (2008)
Get to Know Paul
Dr. Paul Bleakley is an Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice at the University of Kentucky. His research focuses on a broad cross-section of topics including cyberdeviance, interpersonal violence, corruption, and historical criminology. He was awarded a doctoral degree from the University of New England (Australia) in 2019, where he conducted research into the persistent sociocultural impacts of police corruption on marginalized populations.
Dr. Bleakley taught at Middlesex University in London from 2019-2021, working with the Centre for Abuse, Trauma, and Suicide Studies on grant-funded projects related to online harms. Prior to joining the University of Kentucky, he was a faculty member at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, where he was named a University Research Scholar in recognition of his work on cyberdeviance. In addition to his faculty appointments, Dr. Bleakley is also chair of the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Historical Criminology. Before entering academia, he was a professional journalist who worked across the print, broadcast, and online sector in Australia and the United Kingdom.