A former manager of Daughters of Charity family support centres in Dublin has been jailed for four years for sexually abusing his nephew 30 years ago.
Paul Craven (55) was convicted last year of 11 counts, including sexual assault and indecent assault on dates between 1989 and 1999.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that the complainant, Alan Jenkins, wished to waive his anonymity to allow identification of Craven, of Meadow View, Sarsfield Road, Dublin.
Craven had a long history of youth work, most recently as a manager of family centres run by the Daughters of Charity in the north and southwest of Dublin.
The court previously heard the abuse primarily involved inappropriate touching. In the first incident, which occurred when the victim was six or seven, Craven took his hand and guided it to his genital area, where he had concealed playing cards.
Imposing a four-year sentence on Tuesday, Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin said Craven had breached the trust of a “little vulnerable boy”.
An aggravating factor was that the abuse took place in the victim’s home, which should have been a place of safety, she said. The length of time over which the abuse occurred and the age disparity were also aggravating factors, she said.
The judge noted Craven’s offending has had longstanding effects on Mr Jenkins. Craven used his position in the family to “isolate” the victim and used his “qualification and employment to undermine his self-confidence”.
The judge noted Craven’s personal circumstances and that several “glowing references” showed Craven is held in “high regard” by colleagues and friends.
However, Judge Ní Chúlacháin said, it is relevant that Craven does not accept his guilt and has not expressed remorse.
In a victim statement previously read to the court, Mr Jenkins said he was “very vulnerable” when the abuse started.
Craven “took away my childhood, my teenage years, my young adulthood”, he said. However, now “people will know what he has done to me and will know that justice has prevailed”.
Mr Jenkins said Craven presented himself as a “man who walked alongside men of God, a man who told me that he had saved the lives of delinquent boys, a man who nobody questioned”.
Mr Jenkins said he made a complaint to gardaí and Tusla and felt “aggrieved” Tusla found his allegations against Craven “unfounded”.
He said Tusla never spoke to other witnesses who gave statements, interviewing only Craven, who used the unfounded finding to “further shame me and make me out to be a liar”.
Craven denied the allegations. He has no previous convictions.
The investigating garda agreed with defence counsel that Craven has not come to any other negative attention and that he voluntarily attended an interview with gardaí.
A number of testimonials were handed to the court on Craven’s behalf including from a former colleague who also worked with the Daughters of Charity.
Kathleen Leader SC, defending, said Craven’s wife was in court to support him.
Counsel submitted that these offences, while serious, are not at the top of the scale for offending of this kind and that no other allegations have been made against her client.
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