Former Waterford coach jailed for 14 years for indecent assault

A former sports coach who enforced a strict terror regime of sexual abuse on ten boys whom he tied up and sexually assaulted over a four year period in Waterford in the 1980s has been jailed for 14 years.

Accountant Bill Kenneally (65) from Waterford pleaded guilty to ten sample counts of indecent assault on the boys when they were aged between 13 and 16 between January 1984 and December 1987.

Judge Eugene O'Kelly sentenced Kenneally at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court on Friday to a total of 14 years and two months in jail for what he described as his predatory behaviour in grooming the boys after gaining their trust through his involvement in soccer, tennis and basketball.

Judge O’Kelly had heard evidence from Det Garda Maureen Neary how Kenneally used to buy the boys drink, take them on trips to local chippers and give them money before abusing them at his parents’ house when his parents were away, or in his car, or in isolated woodlands.

He recalled the evidence given by Det Garda Neary and the victim impact statements of six of the ten boys - now all men in their 40s- as they described the humiliating abuse that Kenneally subjected them to.

The judge listed nine aggravating factors including the intensity of the abuse which involved Kenneally handcuffing the boys to his bed and masturbating them as well as getting them to masturbate him. The abuse was at the upper end of the scale, he said.

He also noted Kenneally’s predatory behaviour leading up to the abuse where he gained the trust of the boys through his involvement in sports.

He pointed out that Kenneally had developed a strategy to make his victims feel powerless by taking photos of them naked. He used the pictures to threaten the boys, saying he would show them to their families to ensure their silence, Judge O’Kelly added.

In mitigation, Kenneally had pleaded guilty which saved his victims the trauma of having to testify in a trial situation. It also saved the State the expense of possibly up to three separate trials and he was entitled to “a substantial credit” for his plea.

Kenneally had no previous convictions and had not come to the attention of the gardaí since his arrest for these offences in 2015.

He had come to the attention of the gardaí in 1987 when a family made an informal complaint against him. He met senior officers in Waterford at the time and gave them an assurance he would go for treatment, he added.

He also noted that Kenneally had expressed remorse and apologised to his victims which they had rejected as they were entitled to do. He had gone for counselling each week for two years from April 2013 and appeared to have totally rehabilitated and was at low risk of re-offending.

Judge O’Kelly said he had heard and read the victim impact statements submitted by six of Kenneally’s victims and was conscious of what they had suffered in terms of the fear, shame and guilt.

He said sexual assault now carried a maximum penalty of 14 years but at the time of the offence, the maximum penalty was two years. He noted that Kenneally’s counsel Michael Counihan SC had argued that because some of the charges overlapped, sentencing should not be consecutive.

“However I believe each of his victims is unique and each had to summon up the courage to make a complaint and each of the ten victims deserves to see their suffering recognised. I do not want them leaving this judicial process feeling that they had not been heard or that their experience was ignored.”

Judge O’Kelly said that in those circumstances, he believed it was appropriate to impose consecutive sentences and allowing Kennelly seven months credit for his guilty plea on each count, he believed the appropriate penalty was ten consecutive 17 month terms totalling 14 years and two months.

He also ordered that Kenneally’s name be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.