An expert in child protection and child sexual abuse has said the actions of a senior garda - who was told in 1987 that Waterford basketball coach Bill Kenneally was abusing young boys - fell short of what would have been seen as acceptable practice at the time.
Kieran McGrath told the Commission examining the response to the abuse allegations against Kenneally, that the decision by former acting chief superintendent Sean Cashman not to caution Kenneally when he came to Waterford Garda Station in 1987 and not to follow up allegations that a number of boys had been abused by him, could not be considered acceptable practice.
Mr McGrath said chief supt Cashman knew he was dealing with child sexual abuse and could have taken action, including seeking appropriate advice.
Had Kenneally's crimes been brought to light in 1987 or 1988, Mr McGrath said, the victims would have been spared a great deal of suffering and would not have gone through some of the major difficulties they experienced.
Mr McGrath said he found the survivors’ accounts "absolutely shocking" even though he had forty years’ experience working in the area of child sexual abuse.
He said what Kenneally did was not "run of the mill child abuse", it was cruel, bizarre and sadistic.
He would frequently tie victims up and Mr McGrath said supt Cashman had been told he used handcuffs in one case.
Mr McGrath said Kenneally showed traits of psychopathy in his narcissism, callousness and his lack of empathy or remorse.
Mr McGrath said in the 1970s and 1980s child sexual abuse was not part of the public discourse.
But he said by 1987 and early 1988 child protection practice was evolving rapidly, and child abuse was the primary focus of child protection work.
By July 1987, there were new guidelines in place which emphasised a multi-disciplinary approach and stated that cases of child sexual abuse which came directly to garda attention should be reported to the appropriate person in the local health board.
He told the Commission of Investigation that chief supt Cashman did not liaise with the South Eastern Health Board in relation to what he knew about Bill Kenneally in 1987 and he said the garda's actions did not stand up to scrutiny.
'I know why I'm here, lads' - Kenneally
The chief superintendent was told by the father of a victim about the abuse but the man said he did not want his son to make a garda complaint.
Mr Cashman decided to speak to an uncle of Kenneally - Billy Kenneally, a former Fianna Fáil TD and senator - and asked him to get his nephew to visit the garda station.
Mr McGrath said it appeared to him that the chief supt did not query Kenneally in any depth and arguably felt sorry for him, despite the fact that he admitted abusing boys, telling gardaí at the station: "I know why I'm here, lads".
If chief supt Cashman had not known Kenneally’s uncle, would he have done the same thing?, Mr McGrath queried.
He said a senior garda should not have needed reminding that child sexual abuse was a crime.
The chief supt accepted an assurance from Kenneally that he would go for counselling to deal with his problem.
The commission has heard that Kenneally attended a psychiatrist but his abuse of boys continued.
Mr McGrath said chief supt Cashman had not referred to the 1987 guidelines in his evidence to the commission. "In his mind, I don’t think they applied," he said.
Mr McGrath said it seemed the garda was following his own instinct to "leave well enough alone", a decision which had "very grave consequences" for the victims.
Mr McGrath said Kenneally was a "textbook" abuser. He gained access to children by presenting himself as a sports coach and overcame the children’s resistance through a whole range of strategies – he gained their trust, involved them in illegal activities such as underage drinking, bribed them and blackmailed them by taking compromising polaroid pictures of them.
His victims would have felt completely and utterly silenced and entrapped he said.
He said Kenneally convinced himself he was able to avoid detection and did so for a very long time. The fact that he faced no consequences after he admitted he was abusing boys to gardaí in 1987, reinforced his belief that he could "basically get away with it".
'Missed an opportunity to save a great deal of grief'
Part of the difficulty for victims in speaking out, he said, was that Kenneally was well connected to a well-known political family. His uncle Billy Kenneally was a former Fianna Fáil TD and senator and his cousin Brendan Kenneally was elected to the Dáil in 1989 and later became a senator.
Mr McGrath said gardaí who sent away a 14-year-old boy who tried to report the abuse at Waterford Garda Station in 1985 missed an opportunity to save a great deal of grief.
The commission has also heard evidence suggesting some gardaí in Waterford may have been aware of allegations against Kenneally as far back as 1979.
Mr McGrath, under cross-examination from Senior Counsel Seamus Clarke representing An Garda Síochána, agreed that in the mid 1980s the majority of victims of child abuse coming forward were female.
He agreed that the personnel being trained up in the force to deal with the issue were mainly women.
He also agreed that the 1987 guidelines were disseminated under the auspices of the Department of Health and were primarily focused on health workers.
Mr McGrath said he was not quibbling with chief supt Cashman not pursuing the case of the boy whose father told him about the abuse, as the father had said the boy did not want to speak to gardaí.
But he said there were other things the garda could have done while still respecting the father and the boy, including appointing another garda to investigate allegations that Kenneally was abusing other boys.
Brendan Kenneally is due to give evidence tomorrow.
