A Commission of Investigation into complaints against serial Waterford sex abuser Bill Kenneally found a serious dereliction of duty by senior Garda officers when they learned Kenneally sexually abused a boy in the late 1980s.Judge Michael White, who chaired the Commission of Investigation, examined the response by the Garda and the South Eastern Health Board to a report in 1987, that Kenneally – a member of a prominent Fianna Fail political family in Waterford – was abusing pubescent boys.White also criticised the health board for failing to follow through on complaints that could have led to Kenneally being caught much sooner.In his report, White noted: “There is no evidence of widespread collusion that would indicate any finding by the commission of State collusion and/or conspiracy, which is not to underestimate in any way the seriousness of the dereliction of duty in the original investigation in 1987/1988.” .White examined how then-acting chief supt Sean Cashman and then acting supt PJ Hayes handled a complaint they received in late 1987 that Kenneally had sexually assaulted a teenage boy. Cashman is now in his 90s and Hayes is deceased.White outlined the background to the complaint which came to light as part of the 2012 investigation, that a complaint had been made to gardaíby the father of a young boy about Kenneally’s behaviour.The injured party told the commission that Kenneally, whom he knew through a local tennis club, picked him up in his car one day. He said Kenneally took him to his home where he told him he had to repay money he owed him and he pulled down his trousers and stared at his penis.[ ‘Abhorrent crimes’ of convicted paedophile Bill Kenneally detailed in landmark investigative reportOpens in new window ]Kenneally was 37 at the time and the boy was 14. After the boy was caught skipping school, he was brought before the principal. He told both the principal and his father, who was present, about the incident with Kenneally.The boy’s father approached Cashman, with whom he was friendly and knew he could talk to on a one-to-one basis. However, he did not make an official complaint about Kenneally as he did not want his son to become involved in any investigation On December 30th 1987, Cashman and Hayes interviewed Kenneally about the allegations, but no further investigation took place.Cashman contacted Kenneally’s uncle, Billy Kenneally snr, a former TD. Acting on Cashman’s recommendation, Kenneally was referred to a psychiatrist through his other uncle, Monsignor John Shine, a leading clergyman in Waterford.White noted “Garda training in 1987 in the investigation of sexual offences was not to the same standards as today".He says from November 10th 1987 to December 26th 1987, Cashman behaved correctly. This included returning to the boy’s father to try and persuade him to allow his son to be interviewed. Cashman had also recorded in his official journal details of his meeting with the father and Billy Kenneally snr.[ Who is Bill Kenneally? The basketball coach whose crimes had ‘lifelong impact on victims’Opens in new window ]He finds Cashman correctly assessed Bill Kenneally was a multiple abuser and the decision to interview him with Hayes at Waterford Garda Station on December 30th 1987 was the correct one. However, he should have arrested him for false imprisonment, which would have allowed for a search of his house and car.Hayes also should have excused himself from the investigation as he was friendly with Shine and also knew Billy Kenneally snr and it should have been obvious to him there as a conflict of interest.“The investigation started to go badly wrong from here to the conclusion. It was unprofessional, rushed and inappropriate,” says White observing the first unusual decision was to contact Billy Kenneally snr as there was no need to do so.“Kenneally left Waterford Garda station on December 30th 1987, having been interviewed by and made admissions to senior gardaí and continued the horrific abuse of a 12-year-old boy, the son of a good friend, whom he had carefully groomed.“The failure of acting Chief Supt Cashman and to a lesser extent, Supt PJ Hayes after December 26th 1987 to conduct a proper investigation into the activities of Bill Kenneally was a clear and serious dereliction of duty even by 1987 standards,” White said. With respect to the Garda’s investigation of complaints of abuse by Bill Kenneally in 2012 and 2016, White concluded there was no cover-up. He said while there was some delay in the initial stages of the first investigation, the overall quality of the police work was superb, the retired High Court judge concluded. White criticised the South Eastern Health Board for failing to follow through on complaints of sexual abuse by Bill Kenneally that could have led to him being caught much sooner.White examined the experience of two of Kenneally’s victims. These were Kevin Keating, who was sexually assaulted by him in 1987, and Brian Walker, who was not sexually assaulted but was groomed by him. Both were teenagers at the time.He noted both boys were referred by their secondary school to services in the health board where a report was prepared in late 1987 by Dr Geraldine Nolan, the paediatrician who saw them.“It was sent to the Director of Community Care (Dr Martin O’Boyle) and the Senior Social Worker (Patrick Conaty) but they stated that they did not receive it. The report was discovered in 2017,” notes White.The report details how Keating was brought to Kenneally’s house in 1987 and tied up. It also mentions how other boys had been approached by Kenneally and there was a suggestion of money changing hands and threats of violence and that they would be killed if they told.“When all the evidence, expert opinion, guidelines and protocols are considered, the South Eastern Health Board should have acted on the report of March 6th 1989 prepared by Dr Geraldine Nolan and copied to Dr Martin O’Boyle, the Director of Community Care and Patrick Conaty, the Senior Social Worker," White said. “The Commission was not able to ascertain why Dr O’Boyle and Mr Conaty were not made aware of the report. Dr Nolan was adamant that it was sent from her office at Waterford Regional Hospital, Ardkeen to the SEHB offices in the Mall in Waterford city.“As the only professional who had seen Kevin Keating and Brian Walker, and as she recommended monitoring, she should have followed through on this report and contacted Dr O’Boyle and Mr Conaty directly to ensure action was taken. Dr Nolan accepted herself in evidence the situation was serious.”He said a case conference should have been called to include the director of community care, the senior social worker, senior members of An Garda Síochána and principals of certain secondary schools. “The failure of the SEHB to act on child protection, was a lost opportunity to stop Bill Kenneally’s continuing illegal activity and to produce accountability much earlier than 2012/2013,” it was noted.The Commission of Investigation also looked at the role of basketball clubs and the basketball authorities in the case as Kenneally befriended many of his victims through basketball coaching and it was his continued involvement in the sport that led Jason Clancy to report him.The Commission found 12 youths whom Kenneally coached made serious allegations of sexual assault against him. In respect of six of these – Gerard Mullane, Paul Walsh, Simon O’Toole and three complainants who wished to remain anonymous – he pleaded guilty to sexual offences.The commission found there was a loose association structure and local clubs were left to their own devices and, as was common in all sports, “the protection of children from sexual exploitation was not on the radar of basketball clubs in the 1970s until to the early 1990s.”The commission found that the knowledge that emerged about Kenneally’s illegal sexual exploitation of boys, which was not confined to basketball, was “not communicated upwards to any basketball official involved in the (Waterford) area board or the national organisation.”White said that from the evidence the commission heard, it was satisfied illegal sexual acts were committed during Kenneally’s involvement with a local basketball club, and his involvement coaching basketball at a local school.