Victim of paedophile priest urges others not to suffer in silence

By Janet Tansley
Liverpool Echo
May 8, 2016

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/victim-paedophile-priest-urges-others-11302754

Chris Ryder was the victim of abuse by a paedophile priest.

John Michael Creagh, 79, of Douglas Drive, Orrell, Wigan, jailed for four years after admitting five counts of indecent assault against boys at 37th Ormskirk St Annes Scout Group in the 1970s

A victim of a paedophile priest who pleaded guilty to abusing three boys has spoken about his ordeal in the hope it will stop others suffering in silence.

Chris Ryder, from Wigan, has waived his right to anonymity to talk openly about ho he suffered at the hands John Michael Creagh, jailed for four years at Liverpool Crown Court last week after admitting five counts of indecent assault while he was working as a scout leader.

Chris, 53, from Wigan, said: “I am speaking out to give courage and hope to others, not to sit and suffer, alone and in pain. Not to be ashamed.

“What Creagh did to me affected me drastically. It ruined my life.

“Only by speaking up can we keep evil men like him off the streets.”

Now 79, Creagh admitted he assaulted three scouts in the 1970s, when he was working as a scout master for 37th St Anne’s Scout Group in Ormskirk, one of them Chris.

Judge Norman Wright told Creagh: “For your own selfish sexual desires you have cast a blight over the lives of some of those boys.

“This was a gross breach of trust. You were the scoutmaster charged with the welfare of the young scouts in your care and you totally abused that position.”

After he left Ormskirk Creagh was ordained as a priest and became deputy house master at Douai Abbey School – a boarding school in Reading run by Benedictine monks - and in 1992 admitted gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault after targeting a 12-year-old boy there.

Chris, who owns his own mini-bus company, said: “I have had to live with this every day of my life, as have the others he abused.

“I feel nothing for him, he’s a nobody, an evil sad old man.

“I have never wanted to hurt him physically but this, justice, is better.

“He will now suffer like we did. He may not have thought about it since, but he will have a hell of a lot more time to think about it now, sitting in his cell.”

Chris praised the police for the handling of his case, in particular DC Catherine Thomas, from Lancashire Police.

He said: “They listened to me and supported me, the justice system works.

“I would urge other people who have suffered not to be afraid to come forward. I have had support from all sorts of people, all ages, it was immense. It is never too late. You can do it in absolute confidence and you can choose to deal with a male or a female officer, whichever you prefer.

“In some ways it gives you a release from what’s happened. You get control of your own life again instead of the events controlling you.

“By standing up and coming forward you take away the demons.”

And he added: “Hopefully now I can move forward. Time will tell.”