A MAN WHO was allegedly turned away from a garda station as a boy after trying to report he was the victim of sports coach Bill Kenneally is suing the Garda Commissioner and his abuser.
The report was described as a “missed opportunity” to apprehend the sex offender in 1985 – decades before his eventual arrest – in an inquiry examining responses by State agencies to claims of abuse by Kenneally in the 1980s and 1990s.
The commission of inquiry has heard of extensive efforts by gardaí in the modern era to trace which gardaí were serving at that time, involving the interviewing of at least 20 members of the force from that period.
Kenneally, a 72-year-old accountant, from Laragh, Summerville Avenue, Waterford, is currently in prison for the abuse of 15 boys.
Papers to sue both Kenneally and An Garda Síochána were filed in the High Court this week by the complainant, who is now aged in his 50s.
The man, who has retained his legal right to anonymity, was one of five survivors whose complaints formed part of the second case against the sports coach held earlier this year.
When aged 14 in 1985, it’s alleged the complainant entered Waterford Garda Station in Ballybricken to make a complaint about Kenneally.
In evidence outlined before the Commission of Investigation, overseen by a retired High Court judge, the teenager is said to have spoken to a garda manning the desk in the station.
He is alleged to have told the garda that he had been sexually abused, naming Bill Kenneally as his abuser.
According to his evidence, the boy was told to leave and return with an adult. He allegedly felt he could not speak to anyone else about it and decided against returning.
The abuse continued, along with the sexual assaults of several other boys who were preyed on by Kenneally in Waterford.
Although the sports coach and Fianna Fáil tallyman came to Garda attention two years later in 1987, and had admitted to senior gardaí that he had been abusing children, it wasn’t until 2013 that Kenneally was eventually charged.
He was sentenced in 2016 for 14 years in prison for abusing 10 boys from 1984 to 1987.
Last May, he received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for abusing five boys on unknown dates between December 1979 and March 1990.
In September, Kieran McGrath, a child protection expert who was recruited by the commission to present his findings on the case, alleged that the 1985 incident was a “missed opportunity” to apprehend Kenneally.
As part of its work, the inquiry is examining the 1987 garda investigation. It’s also examining the 2012 investigation, overseen by Petit, which eventually apprehended Kenneally.
Gardaí have confirmed they were aware of the abuse in 1987 but decided not to proceed with any charge following discussions with the sports coach.
Former acting chief superintendent Sean Cashman, who oversaw the 1987 investigation, has regularly insisted there was “no cover-up” and that gardaí did the best they could do at the time, instead receiving assurances from Kenneally that he would seek medical help.
There were 15 victims from those two cases but gardaí now believe there could be twice as many.
Efforts
The commission has heard of efforts to track down gardaí who served in Waterford at the time.
Waterford Chief Superintendent Anthony Petit, who oversaw the 2012 investigation into Kenneally which led to his imprisonment, told the inquiry that in 2016 he contacted a number of current and former gardai to corroborate the victim’s claim about a statement in 1985.
He outlined that in late 2016 he was able to speak to the man who had allegedly been turned away from Ballybricken decades earlier.
Kenneally had been convicted months earlier and gardaí were continuing investigations into whether there were further victims.
Petit said he emailed approximately 20 “senior ranking” gardaí and “specifically asked if they had any knowledge of a Bill Kenneally report in 1985″, along with other potential contact gardaí might have had in subsequent years.
Petit added that it was a “difficult task” to try and determine who the guard on the counter in 1985 was but said that he personally took statements from every garda he contacted.
“I think we got every serving member in charge … we also interviewed every detective guard who had 30 plus service that would bring you back to that period.
“I believe it will never be possible to interview everyone who’d been attached to Waterford Garda Station in 1985 owing to data records and deaths of former members,” he said, “so I attempted to have as many senior members as possible contacted.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say