Paedophile Jim McKeever out of jail and back in victim’s parish

A PAEDOPHILE politician freed from prison just 18 months into a four-year jail sentence has sparked fury after returning to live in the same parish as his victim.

Sick Jim McKeever, a former SDLP Deputy Mayor of Derry, was jailed for four years in September 2022.

But he has returned to live in the parish of Faughanvale/Tamnaherin after getting out of prison early.

McKeever showed no remorse after his conviction.

“It’s incredible we have a legal system where someone who assaulted a child can walk free one third of the way into a four-year sentence,” said one local.

“And then no-one is officially told he has been released. It has caused a lot of anger and upset in the area.”

McKeever – who was suspended from the SDLP when the sexual offences came to light – was found guilty by a jury in May 2022 of nine charges.

He was jailed for four years in September 2022 for repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl over a seven year period.

The 66-year old, from Tamneyreagh Park in Eglinton, stood trial at Belfast Crown Court on seven counts of indecently assaulting a young girl, and two counts of gross indecency with or towards a child.

The offences spanned over a period from August 1981 to December 1988 when she was aged between eight and 14.

The former Derry and Strabane councillor, who together with his wife fostered around 50 children, denied all offences – but was found unanimously guilty of nine charges by a jury of six men and six women.

During the trial the complainant said the abuse she suffered as a child by McKeever mainly involved sexual touching.

She recalled incidents in houses in and around Derry in the 80s and also spoke of being abused in Desmond’s Factory where McKeever used to rent an office.

During the sentencing, it emerged that McKeever still maintains his innocence – despite the jury’s verdicts.

Judge Donna McColgan KC spoke of the impact McKeever’s offending has had upon the complainaint, and said: “She has made every effort to look at the positives in her life but the feelings and memories of what happened in her childhood will always be with her.”

As well as handing McKeever a four-year sentence, Judge McColgan also placed him on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

In November 2023, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by McKeever against his convictions.

Giving the ruling, Lord Justice Treacy stated that the Court of Appeal entertained no doubt about the safety of McKeever’s convictions and dismissed the appeal.

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