Hoping justice inspires others

BRAVELY waived anonymity . . . Darren Kenny

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A ROYTON police officer has finally seen the vile sex attacker he thought was dead jailed ­- 38 years after his abuse torment began.

PC Darren Kenny (50), who bravely waived his right to anonymity, gave evidence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court at the trial of Stephen Wright ­- also known as John Stephenson Wright ­- who was given a total of 18 months for three counts of indecent assault. This will be added to a 22-year prison sentence he is already serving at HMP Forest Bank for sexual abuse of boys.

The charges relate to a period between 1978 and 1981 when Darren ­- now a rape specialist trained to support victims, based in the Tameside division ­- was aged between 12 and 15.

The court heard how Wright began working behind the bar at a pub in Rochdale owned by Darren's dad and would stay in Darren's bedroom after he finished work and force him to perform sex acts on him.

Darren also spoke of how Wright would swear him to secrecy and buy him sweets and gifts. He was too scared to tell his parents about the abuse, which continued until he moved out of the pub.

After the death of his dad in 1995 and his mum in 2002, Darren attended counselling and spoke of how he missed out on bringing up his children because of the painful memories.

Sick

Darren believed that Wright had died, until he Googled his name in 2014 and found that he was serving time for other sexual abuse offences.

The court heard how this made Darren feel physically sick and he immediately told the police. Wright was subsequently arrested and charged in 2015.

Although the married dad-of-two says the sentencing of paedophile Wright has given him some closure, shouldering the burden of his childhood abuse alone has had a massive knock-on effect on his life and the relationship with his own children, a daughter now aged 22 and a son aged 20.

In an emotional interview after the trial, Darren relived the ordeal, saying: "If he (Wright) worked late, sometimes he'd stay over and at that point I was sexually abused by him. It was repeatedly.

"For my money, he planned it. He waited until everyone was in bed at night and then he'd come and get into my bed and do what he did.

"I've used the term stereotypical and it was a stereotypical situation. He would create the big secret and use gifts in order to keep me quiet, I suppose.

"I'm a parent now, I've been a parent for 22 years and I lost a big chunk of the intimate time with my children - the stuff that only parents share - it was like it was just savagely ripped away from you. Things that you won't do, things that you're careful of. You don't put yourself in positions. It's all about subconscious and it takes its toll."

He added "It's for other people I'm doing this, it's not for me.

Cycle

"Children self-harm, take their own lives, get involved in drugs, alcohol, they become subjects of sexual exploitation because they don't know any different. They grow up in that world, they think it's the norm, but it's not and they can break the cycle just by speaking out.

"If one reads the paper and thinks 'he's a 50-year-old cop. If he can do it then I'm sure that I can do it,' then this is worthwhile."

Darren said it was never about how long a sentence Wright was given, it was about him being found guilty and people believing in his story as a boy.

"It was about getting him convicted. I wanted my day in court. Through the trial he maintained I was telling lies. But this is part of the closure - stand up in court, look at him and say "you are going back to prison". I had closure when I thought he was dead, now I have it again."

But he added he'll never forgive the man who stole his childhood and had a knock-on effect on his family.

"I'll never know what my personality would have been like if that hadn't happened. He's ripped the heart out off it. He's inadvertently destroyed my family life.

"I contributed towards that by not saying anything about it. That shouldn't have been my burden, but it was, I regret it now.

"But in the Seventies and Eighties, what were you going to do, go to your dad and say 'this guy's done this?' It would have destroyed them.

"I let them die without ever knowing, which is one of the hardest things. I wanted to keep my family together."