A MAN has been convicted of the historical sexual abuse of a boy – while he himself was aged only around 14.
Paul Wright, 49, went on trial at Carlisle Crown Court earlier this week. Wright denied four charges – each alleging that he committed a serious sexual assault on the secondary school-aged male during the 1980s in West Cumbria.
Today (FRI), after hearing all evidence in the case, a jury unanimously found Wright guilty of one offence – and found him not guilty of the three other allegations.
Hearing a summary of the evidence of the one crime Wright was found to have committed, jurors were told the young victim “did not have any understanding of what was happening”. Wright was said to have told the boy: “Don’t tell anyone.”
He was initially “too ashamed” to say what occurred, the court heard, but years later did make revelations because it had been “eating him up inside”. He told medical staff, the police and, in 2017, his mother, who had stated: “It made me so upset.”
Wright insisted he hadn’t committed any crimes.
Judge Nicholas Barker ordered the preparation of a pre-sentence report, and adjourned the case until January 24, when Wright, of Abbey Street, Carlisle, will be sentenced for the one crime. In the meantime he was granted bail.
“At this stage I am not giving you any indication as to what the sentence will be,” Judge Barker told him. “It is not straightforward and I will have consideration to the law as it was (at the time of the offence).”
