Kevin Bernard Keogh found guilty of indecent treatment of children under 12

At age 80 he’s frail and needs a cane to walk but a court has heard this ailing predator was once a labourer menace whose sick treatment of children as young as four still haunts them.

Bundaberg District Court has heard the sinister details of a man’s offending against children as young as four, including telling them to check his groin for ants.

After a three-day trial, a jury found 80-year-old Kevin Bernard Keogh guilty of four counts of indecent treatment of a girl under 16 (under 12) and one count of indecent treatment of a boy, under 16, (under 12).

Harrowing victim impact statements were read to the court by the prosecution, as Keogh, now a small-framed man with a walking cane, sat in the dock.

The victims, who were abused by Keogh during the 70s and 80s while they were all under the age of 10, explained the damaging impacts of his offending.

One victim told the court they feared they were a “time bomb” and may themselves become an offender, before realising the fear was an unfounded consequence of having been abused.

Another said they couldn’t go a day without nightmares and flashbacks and had come to rely on alcohol and sleeping medication to cope.

The court heard one of his victims felt it had been an “insult” Keogh had pleaded not guilty, resulting in the need for a trial by jury.

“I have lost so much,” they said.

The court also heard Keogh, a pensioner, suffered multiple health problems including high blood pressure and he had struggled to cope with bereavement and depression after the death of his long-time wife.

Judge John Allen told the court that while personal deterrence was not a concern given Keogh’s current state of health, general deterrence was, and the community needed to know the abuse of children would attract punishment even if it was years later.

He noted the former labourer and farm worker had “appeared to rehabilitate himself” given his lack of a criminal history.

For the indecent treatment of the boy, Keogh was sentenced to two years in jail.

For the four counts of indecent treatment of the girl he was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

His sentences will run concurrently, and be suspended after he has served nine months, with an operational period of two years.