A sports producer with RTE was confronted by a vigilante group after they posed as a 13-year-old girl online. Kieran Creaven was arrested in Leeds after allegedly arranging to meet a teenage girl for sex, reports Irish Central. Creaven, 55, was confronted by the group, Predator Exposure, in a video that was streamed live on Facebook. Here is that video:
The group, Predator Exposure, said in a Facebook post that Creaven had arrived in West Yorkshire to stay in at the Queens Hotel with who he thought was a 13-year-old girl. Creaven is alleged to have then offered to take the girl shopping and to go to a soccer game in the city.
According to his LinkedIn page, Creaven has worked for RTE in Ireland for 19 years covering a range of sports including the Olympics and World Cup. Creaven is referred to as the stations “Executive Editor of horse racing.” He writes on his profile, “Prior to my employment with RTE, I worked with independent TV/Film companies in Ireland as an Assistant Producer working on non-sports programs, including dramas and music productions.”
Irish Central reports that Creaven was to appear in court in Leeds on November 20 to be formally charged. In a statement, RTE said, “RTE has been made aware of this matter, which is being dealt with by the Yorkshire Police Force in the United Kingdom.” Creaven has been suspended indefinitely from the station.
On November 20, the Irish Times reported that Creaven appeared before a judge where he was charged with attempting to meet a child following grooming. The Times says that the alleged contact between Creaven and who he thought was a minor began in July 2017. Creaven was bailed back to Ireland to live at his home where he is not allowed to have any contact with minors.
FacebookThe Facebook page that Kieran Creaven is accused of operating.
Creaven is accused of operating a Facebook page under a pseudonym. Heavy.com has seen in the page, the only friends on the page all seem to be teenage girls.
Facebook/Kieran CreavenCreaven pictured with Irish horse racing legend AP McCoy.
While Creaven’s personal Facebook page has been inundated with commenters hurling abuse at the RTE sports producer. Posts on that page indicate that Creaven is a married to a Portuguese woman.
These allegations come just a month after disgraced Irish Times journalist Tom Humphries was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Humphries was found guilty of having sex with a teenage girl in a case that began in 2011.
Meanwhile on the same day that Creaven’s arrest was announced, Irish comedian and broadcaster Al Porter was forced to resign from his hosting job at Today FM. Porter was accused in a Sunday Times article of being a “sex pest” by four different men.