Paul Craven jailed for sexual assault and indecent assault

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

Paul Craven was sentenced to four years in prison at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 11 February 2025 for sexually abusing his nephew. He was also placed on the sex offenders register.

Craven was convicted of 11 counts, including sexual assault and indecent assault, relating to offending between 1989 and 1999. He denied the allegations.

Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin said Craven had breached the trust of a vulnerable child. She identified the duration of the abuse, the age disparity and the fact that it took place in the victim’s home as aggravating factors.

The judge considered Craven’s personal circumstances and character references, but noted that he did not accept his guilt or express remorse. Craven had no previous convictions. The investigating garda agreed with defence counsel that he had not come to other negative attention and had voluntarily attended an interview with gardaí.