A CHILD PROTECTION expert has told the commission of investigation examining an alleged child abuse cover-up that actions by the leading garda in the late 1980s “do not stand up to scrutiny” when considering guidelines that were in place at the time.

Kieran McGrath said Superintendent Sean Cashman, who interviewed Bill Kenneally after receiving reports of child abuse by the sports coach in 1987, was aware that boys were being tied up and handcuffed – but did not attempt to progress a criminal case against Kenneally.

McGrath was presenting findings of his report which criticised gardaí and the former South Eastern Health Board for a “lack of professional cooperation” and a “misuse of discretionary powers” in how senior figures handled disclosures of sexual abuse.

He said it resulted in “very serious consequences” for victims as Kenneally continued what he described as “ritualistic” and “sadistic” sexual abuse of several boys. 

McGrath also alleged there was a “missed opportunity” to apprehend the offender in 1985 when a 14-year-old-boy went to Waterford Garda Station to tell a guard manning the desk that Kenneally was abusing him, only to be told to leave and return with an adult.

Last May, Kenneally received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for abusing five boys on unknown dates between December 1979 and March 1990. He was aged between his 20s and 40s when carrying out the abuse.

The 72-year-old accountant, from Laragh, Summerville Avenue, Waterford, had already been serving a 14-year sentence for abusing 10 boys from 1984 to 1987.

There were 15 victims from those two cases but gardaí now believe there may be at least 29 victims.

1987 investigation

Cashman, who was the acting chief superintendent in Waterford in 1987, has previously insisted that there was “no cover-up” and that gardaí did the best they could do at the time. 

In its latest hearing, the commission heard from McGrath, a consultant who previously helped develop child sexual abuse policy in Ireland.

He outlined how there had been “major advances” in child protection in the mid-1980s in Ireland.

This resulted in fresh guidelines for child sexual abuse cases published in mid-1987 – several months before Kenneally was interviewed by gardaí. 

It was an attempt to ensure that abuse cases were “dealt with on a multi-agency and multi-disciplinary basis”, bringing in the HSE, An Garda Síochána and non-statutory bodies and voluntary groups, McGrath said.

However, he criticised gardaí and the former South Eastern Health Board for a “lack of professional cooperation and misuse of discretionary powers” in 1987.

This was where Cashman and an unnamed senior health board doctor allegedly did not properly follow up and liaise with colleagues on the allegations received about Kenneally’s actions.

McGrath told the commission that he did not believe the actions in 1987 of the former superintendent Sean Cashman “stand up to scrutiny”. 

He added that Cashman had available to him Garda guidelines and fresh child sexual abuse guidelines published by the Department of Health, but alleged that he “did not activate either set of guidelines” in his 1987 investigation.

McGrath, who helped promote the new approach, said it appeared that Cashman “wasn’t particularly aware” of the guidelines and was “following up his own instinct” in how he dealt with Kenneally. 

“It appears to me chairman that Superintendent Cashman did not caution the accused when he came, did not query him in any depth,” he continued. 

‘Broken man’ interview

McGrath claimed that Cashman “arguably felt sorry for” Kenneally. The former senior garda described him as “a broken man’” in an interview with RTÉ Prime Time in 2016.

This as rejected by legal representation for An Garda Síochána who said the description was an observation on Cashman’s part.

Following Kenneally’s release, Cashman outlined that he spoke to Kenneally’s psychiatrist as a follow-up and was told that the sports coach was doing well.

But McGrath said that Cashman received the update from Kenneally’s psychiatrist “without really giving any details as to what that meant”.

Other options

McGrath outlined other options he argued were available to Cashman in 1987.

“He knew there were other boys involved [from reports received]. He could have lifted the phone and talked to other superintendents, he could have read the 1987 guidelines,” he said. 

“It seems to me that Superintendent Cashman didn’t do any of those things. From what I read, he was satisfied that what he did was the right thing. I have to say that I disagree with that, I think there were other things he could have done.

“He could have asked another garda to initiate an inquiry, even a preliminary inquiry to try and scope this out.”

Previously, Cashman said he had been contacted by a businessman who told him his son was being abused by Kenneally.

Cashman interviewed Kenneally after contacting his uncle Billy Kenneally, a former Fianna Fáil politician now deceased, to arrange a meeting with gardaí.

McGrath further claimed that if Cashman didn’t know any relation of Kenneally, “if this was Joe Bloggs, a normal citizen, would he have made a phone call to a relative to ask him to come down and see me? I question if he would have done that.”

He added that Cashman’s “use of discretion”, by not proceeding with any criminal investigation, was also of concern.

“I’m all in favour of gardaí using discretion. I think An Garda Síochána deserve tremendous credit for its services to this country, hoverer when you use discretion, it has to stand up to scrutiny. In this particular case I don’t Superintendent Cashman’s use of discretion was appropriate,” McGrath said.

Training in 1987

Seamus Clarke, barrister representing An Garda Síochána, said that guidelines were evolving at a “fairly fast pace” in the 1980s.

He pointed to how literature produced by child sexual abuse researchers at the time showed that it was mainly “bean gardaí” – female members – who were tasked with interviews of victims.

McGrath agreed with Clarke when asked if it meant that male gardaí “might not necessarily have been trained up” for such cases.

Citing previous evidence heard by Cashman, Clarke said that the garda chief had been asked about a circular arriving into Waterford Garda Station detailing new guidelines that any abuse that comes to gardaí should be reported.

He quoted from Cashman’s evidence: “So many things would come about various things, what tended to happen with circulars is you’d pick up the circular and you’d file it away.”

McGrath claimed that the option was available to Cashman to “dig” for more information on Kenneally and build a case on the sports coach.

Health Board doctor

McGrath said that health board doctor appeared to not contact other authorities because she “could not make her mind up” about whether her patient had been sexually abused.

The doctor was also “afraid of using leading questions” in case it could prejudice a future criminal case.

McGrath said this was appropriate but said two teams in Dublin were developing ways of conducting investigative interviews without using leading questions and that the doctor could have “tapped into” that expertise.

While the senior doctor had notified two of her most senior colleagues as required, it was unclear what happened next, the commission heard.

McGrath said child sexual abuse cases require a follow up, including a ‘case conference’ and that “you have to come to a conclusion” and decide whether other children are at risk.

Mr Justice Michael White told the hearing that there was “no case conference” and that the commission was “uncertain what happened after 6 March 1989″, with the documentation for the case “lost and not retrieved until 2017″.

‘Solo run’

McGrath said a strong message arising from these guidelines was for processionals not to “go on a solo run when it comes to something as complex and difficult” as child sexual abuse.

Had more authorities been made aware of Kenneally’s abuse of children earlier, McGrath believes it would have spared victims from damaged relationships, guilt and development of addiction problem they suffered.

“These decisions had very grave consequences for victims,” he said.

Legal representation for the HSE questioned McGrath on whether there was confirmation that new child sexual abuse guidelines were introduced in the South Eastern Health Board area in the 1980s.

Responding, McGrath said he would surprised if the Department of Health tolerated “idiosyncratic application of guidelines” that were meant to apply to the whole country.

1979 interview

The boy was a victim of Kenneally who came forward for a criminal trial held earlier this year.

McGrath told the hearing that his view was that it would “suggest that some elements of gardai in Waterford were aware of concerns and suspicious way before” the interview with Kenneally in 1987.

Clarke, for the gardaí, said that it was “massive speculation” on McGrath’s part to suggest that gardaí might have had earlier knowledge of Kenneally based on the interview with the boy.

Clarke said “innocent explanations” were available as basketball had been raised in the interview prior to Kenneally’s name being mentioned. The barrister said it may have been known that Kenneally was a basketball coach and that was why gardaí asked the boy about the man.

This was disputed by McGrath who said it as a “valid question” to ask if there was another reason why gardaí had asked about Kenneally.

Earlier, the commission heard references to when Kenneally may have started abusing youths.

Notes from Kenneally’s doctor, recorded ahead of his 2016 sentencing, noted that he was engaging in acts which Kenneally maintained were consensual in 1967. He was 17 at the time.

Former RTÉ broadcaster Damien Tiernan has said that he was told by a member of a GAA club in Waterford city that there were concerns about Kenneally stretching back to 1972.

It has also been claimed by one victim that he was approached by two gardaí in a pub in Waterford in the late 1980s and told to be wary of Kenneally – this was denied by those gardaí who appeared before the commission.

The commission is set to continue tomorrow where it will hear from Brendan Kenneally – a cousin of Bill Kenneally and a former Waterford TD.