Ireland

‘He’s an evil man’: Victims of paedophile Bill Kenneally come face to face with his depravity

Kenneally’s flippant response to many questions put to him during commission of investigation enraged his victims

Convicted paedophile Bill Kenneally being brought from the commission of investigation hearings on Church Street, Dublin on Tuesday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times
Ronan McGreevy's picture
Ronan McGreevy
Wed Mar 13 2024 - 19:23

Convicted paedophile Bill Kenneally talked a lot on the stand about his constitutional rights, but nothing about his responsibilities to his victims.

There were audible gasps and frequent headshaking as he gave evidence at the commission of investigation set up to examine the official response to his predatory child abusing.

The 73-year-old former basketball coach, who was first convicted in 2016, is serving a prison sentence of more than 18 years for the abuse of 15 children between 1979 and 1990.

On his second day of evidence, Kenneally repeatedly claimed that the commission was exceeding its brief in asking him about his crimes when its remit was about the investigations into his crimes. He said he was entitled to a presumption of innocence for any charges in which a “nolle prosequi” – or a “nolle”, as he referred to it – had been entered.

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At one stage he produced a piece of paper stating that he had a guarantee from the Chief State Solicitor to that effect and that the European Court of Justice had ruled that he was entitled to a presumption of innocence.

Six of Kenneally’s victims and their family members heard evidence from the convicted sex offender at the committee room at the Dublin Dispute Resolution Centre that often made them wince.

He was flippant and unrepentant in his responses to a series of questions put to him by Barra McGrory KC on behalf of the victims.

Victims of Bill Kenneally: Paul Walsh (left) and Gerry Mullane. Photograph: Ronan McGreevy

When asked if he felt that he had ruined the lives of his victims, Kenneally asked: “Why did they wait 30 years to give evidence?”

He then claimed that one of the victims who had given evidence privately to the commission had wanted to be “part” of the abuse.

At the end of a fraught day at the court, the commission chairman, retired High Court judge Michael White, accused Kenneally, who was sitting to his left, of treating the hearing like a “circus”.

Kenneally turned and faced the chairman.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully,” Mr Justice White told him.

Kenneally mumbled something.

The chairman shot back: “Listen to me now, I asked you to listen to me.”

He wanted to know why Kenneally was now trying “to resile” himself from evidence which he had accepted at his trial in 2016.

Mr Justice White then read through a statement given by psychotherapist Nicholas Banks on Kenneally’s behalf at his original trial.

The psychotherapist’s report said Kenneally had been heterosexual in his early teens, but was awkward in the company of girls. He then turned to boys of a similar age or younger and that behaviour became “entrenched” and the age of the boys he abused stayed the same.

He developed “distorted cognitions” as a result which were used to justify his paedophilia.

Mr Justice White asked him did he accept that evidence now.

“I accept that,” Kenneally responded. It was his last contribution to a day when he sought repeatedly to frustrate the commission and to cast doubt on the evidence of victims.

Paul Walsh (51), one of the victims who waived his right to anonymity, summed Kenneally up afterwards.

“He’s an evil man,” he said. “The last day I was abused by him was the morning of what is now the Junior Certificate exam at 8.30am in the morning. He locked us in a bedroom.”

Mr Walsh was particularly offended when Kenneally giggled when listing the kind of things that would have been found in his house had it been raided by gardaí, including handcuffs, orange twine and a little red bag. “He thought it was funny,” said Mr Walsh. “We knew when that little red bag was being produced that we were going to be tied up.”

His friend Gerry Mullane (52), another victim, said seeing Kenneally was a shock.

“I didn’t see him since the first case and I was shaking. I was scared to see him as an adult. He was like a clown up on the stand. Most of what he said was pure lies.”