The Gardaí who allowed the worst paedophile in the history of the state to walk free
Sean Cashman and PJ Hayes, two very senior members of An Garda Siochana who let Bill Kenneally walk after receiving admissions from him in interview
(Note: This is an excerpt from a Special Report published by the Waterford News & Star. You can read the full story here)
The failings of senior An Garda Siochana members is one of the starkest findings in the South East Commission of Investigation report.
Two senior garda members, Acting Chief Superintendent Sean Cashman and acting Superintendent PJ Hayes, are heavily implicated in the report.
Below are detailed key moments where gardaí were told firsthand of the abuse Kenneally was inflicting onto children.
In June 1985, a 14-year-old boy decided to report an incident of assault to gardaí in Waterford. He decided to do so on his own initiative, without telling his parents. He walked from his home by himself to Waterford Garda Station, approached the counter and spoke to a male Garda.
The victim named Bill Kenneally as his abuser.
The Garda did not speak to him in private and told him because of his age he would need to have an adult present.
No further steps were taken by the Garda officer to contact his parents or offer him a lift home.
This was a missed opportunity to stop Kenneally. The complaint should have been properly investigated, the Commission report states.
In 2023, Kieran McGrath, an expert on Child Sexual Abuse, spoke to the Commission.
He said that the garda officer in question did not deal with the matter correctly, regardless of the protocol that was in place at the time in how to deal with sexual assault allegations.
Mr. McGrath said: “When (victim name) went into the garda station as a 14-year-old and told the Garda what had happened to him and he wasn’t dealt with because he didn’t have an adult with him,
“I don’t think the guard there was conscious of the child abuse guidelines, but he should have been conscious of normal policing, which is, here is somebody reporting a crime, and it’s a sexual crime and he’s a child.
“So I wouldn’t be expecting the Garda then to be automatically thinking about the Department of Health guidelines at that point, I’d be expecting him to think about his job as a Garda, which is, here is a citizen, a young citizen reporting a serious crime, and how I am I going to deal with it?”
Another shocking dereliction of duty occurred on behalf of two very senior Garda members in Waterford in 1987. For the victims, this moment in particular is extremely upsetting.
In late 1987, the father of a 14-year-old boy informed acting Chief Superintendent of Waterford, Sean Cashman that his son had been abused by Kenneally.
After these allegations were made, Sean Cashman decided to contact the uncle of Bill Kenneally, the prominent former politician Billy Kenneally Snr, to inform him about his nephew’s alleged activities.
Acting on Cashman’s recommendation, Bill Kenneally was referred to psychiatrist Dr Michael Kelleher. This was arranged by Billy Kenneally Snr and Bill’s other uncle, Monsignor John Shine.
In this interview with both gardaí, Kenneally made admissions.
No further investigation occurred and the only outcome was that Bill Kenneally was referred for psychiatric counselling.
“The investigation started to go badly wrong from here to the conclusion. It was unprofessional, rushed and inappropriate,” the Commission’s report states.
Following the interview, Kenneally was not cautioned, proper notes were not taken, and he was not asked to come back and make a voluntary statement.
Bill Kenneally was not arrested and his house and car not searched. The report outlines that despite the absence of formal statements, there was enough evidence to legally ground a proper suspicion and thus enable arrest and search.
Because of the restraint used he could have been arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, and his house could have been searched. It is definite that the Polaroid images would have been found.
The Commission’s report said that contacting Billy Kenneally Snr was an unusual decision for Cashman to make. There was no need to do that, nor was any thought given to the implications.
By contacting an uncle of the suspect, he risked compromising the investigation before it started, as Bill Kenneally was alerted and could have destroyed evidence.
According to legislation in existence in 1987, Cashman had every right to arrest Bill Kenneally on suspicion of false imprisonment and indecent assault.
The Commission’s report states: “The failure of acting C.S. Cashman, and to a lesser extent acting Supt P.J Hayes after 26th December 1987, to conduct a proper investigation into the activities of Bill Kenneally, was a clear and serious dereliction of duty even by 1987 standards”
Kenneally’s more visible grooming stopped after December 1987 when discovered and confronted, but his sexual abuse did not stop.
The Commission says that the serious failure to investigate this matter properly at this time had devastating consequences for victims.
Whilst speaking to four of the victims in the offices of the Waterford News & Star last week, they expressed considerable disgust at the inaction of Sean Cashman in particular.
“Bill Kenneally continued to abuse me and the others after Sean Cashman left him out of the garda station that day,” Jason Clancy said.
Colin Power added: “The most senior garda in Waterford had Kenneally in the station with an admission and he let him walk. Cashman should have done more.
“There were so many simple, common-sense solutions to catch Kenneally, Cashman did none of them and kids continued to be sexually abused and mentally tormented.
“At the end of the day, Kenneally was a paedophile, he was sick. Cashman though, was the most senior Garda member in Waterford, and he did nothing. All Cashman had to do was search Kenneally’s car, search his house, keep an eye on him for one single day. It was an absolute dereliction of duty.”
Story continued HERE
