OFFENDER RAYMOND CULLENS MOVES NEAR VICTIM IN ROCHDALE

In August 2000, it was reported that Raymond Cullens, a convicted paedophile teacher, has relocated closer to one of his former victims. Cullens, now 51, has moved just five miles from a town referred to as K, in Rochdale, where he previously molested a pupil. It is believed that at least one of his other three victims still resides in the area.

The day following the news, K, a mother of two who was systematically abused by Cullens during a primary school year when she was only eight years old, has launched a campaign to strengthen protections for sex offenders. K endured the abuse at the hands of Cullens, a teacher at Bullough Moor Primary School in Heywood, for an entire school year, but she was too frightened to report him at the time. She kept her secret for 14 years until she finally reported him after Cullens was jailed for 30 months in 1992 for abusing other pupils in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Despite Cullens’ previous imprisonment, Judge Stuart Fish handed him a 15-month suspended sentence during his trial at Manchester Crown Court. The judge stated, “He has suffered enough and is a ‘marked man’ after being named and shamed.”

Currently, K, now 22 years old, has been informed that Cullens, who was living in Dorset, has moved to Rochdale, just a few miles from her home in Heywood. She expressed her disgust, saying, “I feel physically sick. This nightmare he's put me through never ends.”

K, who is the mother of twins, is advocating for legal reforms to ensure that sex offenders like Cullens are kept on the sex offenders register for life. Cullens has reportedly notified Rochdale police of his new address. A police spokesperson commented, “He is entitled to live wherever he wants, but he will be closely monitored.”