Former Daughters of Charity manager convicted of sexual assault of his nephew

Sentencing in the case was due today. However, the court adjourned the sentence until January 28 to allow Craven and his wife to sell their home.

His victim Alan Jenkins, now 41, was not in court for the hearing. However he waived his right to anonymity through the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to publically name himself and his abuser, his uncle Paul Craven.

The father of five had previously told the courts he was around seven or eight when his uncle began abusing him. He went to live with his mother’s parents after he was orphaned by the death of his mother and father. His father was killed in a car crash in 1987 and the following year his mother died.

The court heard Paul Craven, who was living in the house at the time, used to call his nephew upstairs to play cards in the attic where he slept. He would hide the cards behind his back and would “give clues where to find them” between his legs and guide Alan’s hand between his legs, said Kieran Kelly SC for the prosecution.

The abuse he said, progressed to Mr Craven lying “naked” on the bed in front of Mr Jenkins when he was playing on the computer and touching himself. Eventually Mr Craven moved out and bought a house with his wife, and his nephew was often invited to the home because he took on the role of teaching him about the “birds and bees”.

The court was told the abuse then progressed to watching Mr Jenkins bathe, plying him with alcohol, and "inspecting" his nephew's genitals under the guise of examining for sexually trasmitted infections, which he claimed were highly rampant among young people.

After football games, Mr Jenkins said in his statement to gardaí, Craven would make him take part in "rub downs" which progressed to genital touching.

The abuse came to a head following a trip to Manchester in April 2004 to see a Liverpool game, as part of Alan Jenkins 21st birthday.

Craven and Alan Jenkins went on the trip and in his statement his nephew said he had tried to touch him again which resulted in him being “freaked out”.

A few months later Alan Jenkins attacked his uncle and headbutted him at a family party, and that is when he first spoke about the abuse. He later told his wife and sister, and he made a statement to gardaí.

In November this year, a jury found Craven guilty on 11 counts of sexual and indecent assault.

On Monday, while the sentencing was adjourned, Mr Jenkins' daughter Sophie read out his victim impact statement. Craven – who denied the abuse - sat in the dock cupping his jaw with his hand.

Sobbing throughout the statement Sophie Jenkins said on behalf of her dad: “From when the grooming began, I was made to feel that Paul Craven was the only person I had in my life, I was made feel isolated, alone and very confused as to why everyone hated me in particular my sister Gillian.

“I have since learned that Paul Craven took every opportunity to tarnish my reputation with lies about me. I haven’t always been the best version of myself, I’ve always struggled with binge drinking, reckless decision making and running away from my problems, demons, and reality.

“I struggle with simple day to day things like nappy changes. I feel like I’m doing something wrong by changing my own child’s nappy, this is a direct result the sexual abuse I suffered as a child. 

"Alcohol has been a major influence in my life from when I was first introduced to it by Mr Craven when I was 13 years old to this present day. I use alcohol as a coping mechanism and to escape the reality of my life, I become angry, aggressive and very selfish when I drink, I can go days without stopping and I hurt all the people around me by my selfish actions. I feel that the only time I’m a normal person is when I’m drinking.

“Paul Craven took away my childhood, my teenage years, my young adulthood, but now I have my justice, and people will know what he has done to me and will know that justice has prevailed.

Mr Jenkins also hit out at the Child and Family Agency Tusla who also investigated Mr Crave in 2019 and said the allegations were unfounded.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Jenkins called Tusla's investigation a "farce".

“There were other witnesses involved who all gave statements, but you never spoke to any of them...Paul used this finding to further shame me and make me out to be a liar. He received a promotion in work - a charity funded by Tulsa and remained working with vulnerable children. Any efforts to contact Tulsa from me or my sister in light of the charges and then the conviction have been ignored.”