Judge Michael White begins his report with an overview of the investigation in which he sets out just who Bill Kenneally (75) is and how he fell from grace as a member of a well-known Waterford political dynasty to become a convicted sex offender. Kenneally’s political ties run deep – his grandfather William Kenneally was a Fianna Fáil TD for Waterford from 1952 until 1961 while his son, Billy Kenneally Snr, Kenneally’s uncle, was a TD from 1965 until 1982. Bill’s son Brendan, Kenneally’s cousin, was a TD from the 1980s to the 2000s.An accountant, Kenneally, who lived at Laragh, Summerville Avenue in Waterford city, was well known locally as a tallyman for the family’s political machine. He continued to go out on the campaign trail canvassing for his cousin Brendan Kenneally even after he was charged.Kenneally was also related to a senior clergyman in Waterford. His uncle was Monsignor John Shine, who was Professor of Canon Law and Moral Theology at St John’s College Seminary in Waterford and also served as Vicar General of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore for 13 years.White, a retired High Court judge, prepared the report of the commission of investigation into Kenneally which was published following today’s meeting of the Cabinet.White sets out how Kenneally got to know young boys aged between 11 and 17 in Waterford “either through basketball, fun Sunday football”, a local tennis club “or living in his neighbourhood” and how these boys were at risk of being targeted by him in the 1970s and 1980s. “Bill Kenneally was a predatory sexual abuser operating in Waterford city and its environs. He had an intense sexual attraction to pubescent boys in early adolescence described as hebephilia rather than paedophilia,” White says of Kenneally, who testified before the commission in March 2024.Kenneally was jailed for 14 years and two months at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court on February 19th, 2016, for the indecent assault of 10 boys. On May 22nd, 2023, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, he was jailed for a further four years and six months for the indecent assault of five other boys. White says of Kenneally, who is 10 years into an 18 years and eight month sentence in Midlands Prison for the offences against his 15 victims which span from 1979 to 1990, that his crimes had “a lifelong impact on the victims and their families”.Noting Kenneally was not brought to justice until a formal complaint was made by one of his victims, Jason Clancy, in December 2012, White says: “His crimes were cruel and exploitative. He was intelligent and manipulative and an expert at grooming children by developing trust and affection.”But White notes Kenneally also used fear to exploit his victims. “He photographed many of the boys with a Polaroid camera which could instantly develop photos of them in compromising positions. He retained possession of these photos … (in an) effective blackmail of the boys to preserve silence.”“He regularly used restraints including handcuffs and builder’s twine. He used alcohol, money and gifts in grooming and in the commission of offences. Many of these boys had never consumed alcohol before being introduced to it by Bill Kenneally.” A report by a commission of investigation into Kenneally heard evidence from the Senior Investigative Officer on the case between 2012 and 2018, Chief Superintendent Anthony Pettit, then a Detective Inspector, that gardaí had taken statements from 23 men, alleging they had been sexually abused as minors by Kenneally.Pettit said two other men made statements alleging activity that could be described as grooming while gardaí identified another 13 men who had socialised with Kenneally as minors. All 13 declined to make statements, but gardaí believed there was prima facie evidence he had abused four others.White notes that from an analysis of complaints made to gardaí from 2012 onwards, Kenneally’s targeting of young boys for abuse was intense from 1978 to 1987, with some of the activity clearly observable.This included Kenneally behaving inappropriately in changing rooms when young boys he was coaching in basketball were showering and changing while he also took young boys to fast-food restaurants and for drives in his car.He regularly provided alcohol for youths and kept alcohol in the boot of his car. He regularly invited boys to his home when his parents were away and played pornographic tapes for them and gave them alcohol.White recalled the evidence of Dr Nicholas Bankes, a psychologist who prepared a report for Kenneally’s defence at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court on February 18th, 2016, during his sentencing for the abuse of 10 boys.“He [Bankes] described him as heterosexual but because he felt inadequate and awkward in the company of girls, he turned to boys of a similar age to himself or one or two years younger with whom he felt confident enough to engage in penile fondling.“This behaviour became entrenched and as he grew up, the sexual behaviour continued but the age of the boys he abused remained young” as he exploited his position as a sports coach and enticed these boys with inducements of money, alcohol, cigarettes and sports gear to visit his home.White continues: “He told Dr Bankes that he had stopped this activity after being interviewed by An Garda Síochána in December 1987. Dr Bankes referred to this in his report and repeated it in sworn evidence. This was untrue. He continued and intensified his abuse of one boy, the child of a family friend and four others made allegations of continuing sexual abuse into 1988.”