THE mother of one of the victims of convicted paedophile Paul Brian Kennedy told the Central Western Daily she was pleased her son’s predator was jailed for a maximum of seven-and-a-half years in Sydney’s District Court last week.
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The Orange woman, who can not be named, to protect her son’s identity, witnessed Kennedy having an online chat and web cam conversation with her son and, after realising the inappropriateness of the interaction, took a transcript of it to police.
It was this information that eventually led to Kennedy’s arrest.
Now, two years after the incident, the woman can vividly recall her reaction when she read and saw the computer interaction between Kennedy and her son .
“When I was listening it was like a dream, it was like it wasn’t really happening,” she said.
“I was definitely shocked and there was an element of denial ... at first I thought ‘is this me imagining things’?”
She felt a sense of relief when police later found paedophilic images on Kennedy’s computer and her initial suspicions were vindicated
The mother says she suspects her son, who was 11 years old at the time, probably knew Kennedy was being inappropriate.
“I think he knew it was maybe wrong but I think he was excited and there was also some disbelief. But as a parent I know where it could have led,” she said.
The woman urged other parents to be very careful about who their children spend time with.
“I’d walk past his house and there were always bikes on his lawn at all hours of the day,” she said. I was probably lucky that my kids weren’t as mobile.
“I think some parents are very trusting.”
The fact that Kennedy was a teacher and a coach of the football team meant that many parents thought he was above reproach.
“He was a popular man so I told my son not to tell anyone we’d dobbed him in ... at first I felt some guilt that I caused all this trouble for people,” the mother said.
She said parents needed to be aware of the way paedophiles groomed students.
“They offer little rewards like bottles of Coke and other bribes like DVDs and PlayStation computer games,” she said.
The mother says her son is now a typical teenager, although he doesn’t find it easy to trust teachers.
“I think maybe cynical is a good word for it, he doesn’t trust teachers, although (since the incident) he has had some that he relates well to,” she said.
As for Kennedy, the mother believes he’d feel no remorse for his actions.
“There’s no way he feels bad.”
tracey.prisk@ruralpress.com
