Paedophile producer to be released today

SACKED RTÉ producer Kieran Creaven is to be freed from a UK prison today.

Just ten months into his 18-month sentence for sexual offences involving children, the 56year-old paedophile is being released early from HMP Leeds (Armley) jail due to his automatic entitlement to remission.

It doesn’t mean he automatically returns to the home he shared with his now-estranged wife in Dublin as he must spend time under the care of the UK’s probation service.

However, whenever he does return, he will have to sign on at a Garda station because he is a registered sex offender.

He also faces questions by gardaí, who have been investigating his activities in Ireland.

The disgraced former sports producer was lured to Leeds by anti-paedophile group, Predator Exposure, which created an online profile for a fictional 13-year-old girl.

He was arrested on November 18, 2017, after the group, who confronted him and filmed his reaction, called the police outside a Leeds hotel where he was due to meet the girl.

He had been in communication online with the fictional girl since July and believed she was 13 and looking to meet an older man.

RTÉ has since dismissed Creaven, who had been a producer on RTÉ’s World Cup coverage and other major sports tournaments.

On December 18, Creaven appeared at Leeds Crown Court and pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming between July 1 and November 17, 2017. He also admitted attempting to cause or incite a child into sexual activity in Leeds between the same dates.

Creaven’s case proved how unsafe an environment the online world is for children. It emerged in his case that he had attempted to lure up to 20 children before being caught.

Creaven admitted using fake Facebook profiles and buying his intended victims credit for their smartphones, as part of a litany of paedophile grooming. His court case heard that he had watched child pornography and admitted: ‘I find children attractive.’