Paedophile Thomas McKenna sentenced to 16 years in prison for 162 offences

A former GAA club official has been sentenced to 16 years for what a judge called a "a campaign of sexual offending" against 23 boys and young men across almost 30 years.

Thomas McKenna, 62, with an address at Maghaberry Prison, pleaded guilty to 162 sexual abuse offences that took place between 1989 and 2018.

He will serve a further seven years on licence after his release.

The abuse took place at various locations across Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, including at the local Gaelic Athletics Club (GAA).

McKenna had been a club treasurer at Crossmaglen Rangers GAA in Co Armagh, as well as a postman and a director of the local credit union.

At Belfast Laganside Courthouse on Friday Judge Patricia Smyth McKenna had used his position in the community to "groom and manipulate" his victims, some of whom were particularly vulnerable.

The judge said that the psychological harm McKenna inflicted on his victims was "immeasurable".

"There is no sentence that this court can pass that will repair that damage," she added.

"I am passing an extended custodial sentence of 16 years with an extended licence period of seven years," she outlined, adding that his name will be placed on the sex offenders register for life and he will be disqualified from working with children."

Speaking after sentencing on Friday, Senior Public Prosecutor from the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) Serious Crime Unit Margaret Kinney said: “McKenna posed as an apparently respectable pillar of the community whilst carrying out a predatory campaign of sexual abuse against boys and young men over three decades.

"His tactics included ‘befriending’ his victims, while manipulating, grooming, coercing and abusing them. He preyed on the vulnerabilities of his victims, some of whom he abused for years, who felt afraid and embarrassed to report his offending," she added.

Ms Kinney praised the commended "the courage of McKenna’s brave victims who spoke out about his abhorrent crimes and ultimately helped bring him to justice".

"We thank them for their positive engagement with the prosecution team throughout the criminal justice process," she said, adding: “There should be no hiding place for sexual offenders and the PPS takes these offences very seriously.

"We understand that it can be daunting for victims of sexual abuse to come forward. The team of lawyers in the PPS Serious Crime Unit are trained and experienced in prosecuting sexual offences cases and working sensitively with victims who may have experienced trauma.

“If you have been the victim of sexual abuse, no matter when it occurred, please report your experiences to police. You will have the services of a dedicated police and prosecution team and be assured that we will prosecute these cases robustly, where there is the evidence to do so.”

Meanwhile PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Kerry Brennan said: “Thomas McKenna was a respected and influential member of the Crossmaglen community, who used his positions of trust to gain access to young males to carry out the litany of abuse as outlined in court today.“His offending spanned over a lengthy 30-year period.“He has caused long-lasting psychological damage to his victims and their families and I’ve no doubt that learning of the severity of his offending today will ricochet through the Crossmaglen community.“Predators of this type are incredibly manipulative, and invest a lot of time building trust and embedding themselves within communities to carry out their offending under the radar. Hidden in plain sight.“Our thoughts today are with the victims that this man preyed on, and abused for so many years. It takes huge courage to speak out and break the cycle of abuse.“We would like to commend them for coming forward and working with our dedicated detectives. We would continue to encourage anyone who has experienced any form of sexual abuse to contact police on 101, or in an emergency call 999.“Please don’t suffer in silence fearing you won’t be believed. We will listen to you and we will act. It doesn’t matter when the abuse happened, we will still investigate and work to bring abusers before the courts as we have done today.”

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