Katanning hostel warden who abused dozens of boys to be released from jail

Serial West Australian paedophile Dennis McKenna, who abused students while he worked at an education hostel, will be released from jail on strict conditions after serving his 15½-year sentence.

McKenna, now 81, sexually abused 29 students at St Andrew’s Hostel in Katanning the 1970s and 80s while he was the housemaster.

A special inquiry set up to examine McKenna’s prolific abuse stated the school warden had “successfully groomed” the Katanning community to trust him, and he had controlled students at the hostel through a “mixture of favouritism, intimidation, threats and tight control of [their] behaviour”.

It found many people tried to alert authorities to his sexual abuse of boys at the hostel but “they were either not listened to or actively diverted”.

McKenna was first convicted of 19 offences in 1991. He only spent one year and 10 months in jail before he was released on parole, but was later also charged with a further 10 offences in 2011.

He was sentenced to 15½ years in jail. He is due to be released on November 17.

Justice Marcus Solomon ruled on Wednesday that McKenna would be released on time, on a four-year supervision order subject to strict conditions.

Solomon also declared him a high-risk sexual offender.

“It was a gross and repugnant breach of trust – the respondent has destroyed or permanently scarred the lives of many victims,” he said.

“Society has long had to grapple with the problem some criminals may have completed their just sentence, but they still cause a risk to the community.

“Despite his age, he has sufficient capacity and propensity to commit such an offence again and without supervision, that remains an intolerable possibility

“The gravity, extensive duration and pervasive breadth [of his offending] … all supports further offending remains a possibility.

“It is therefore clear there is an unacceptable risk the offender will commit an offence in the future.”

Solomon said McKenna would be subject to dozens of restrictive conditions on his movements, and each of his victims would have an “exclusion zone” around them to prevent the possibility running of into him.

Solomon also repeatedly emphasised the narrow focus of the order, and said he had given weight to the fact McKenna appeared to have not committed an offence between his release period between 1993 and 2011.

This is despite the State Solicitor’s Office confirming earlier this year that McKenna was subject to a new allegation believed to have occurred in the mid-2000s.

The investigation into the allegation is ongoing.

Premier Colin Barnett also announced an ex-gratia payment scheme for victims of sexual abuse at the hostels in 2012, with a maximum payment of up to $45,000.