Pembroke Dock defendant faces charges spanning from 1984 to 2008

A MAN from Pembroke Dock is standing trial at Swansea Crown Court accused of a series of historic sexual offences alleged to have taken place over a 24-year period.

Anthony Kenniford, of Britannia Drive, denies 13 counts including indecent assault, indecency with a child, rape, attempted rape, and sexual activity with a child.

The trial is being heard before His Honour Judge Geraint Walters. Kenniford has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The jury was told that the indictment now before the court runs from 1984 to 2008 and gives fuller particulars of the allegations than at the earlier magistrates’ court stage.

Some counts relate to allegations said to have taken place between May 1984 and May 1986. Further counts concern alleged offences said to have occurred between April 1984 and April 1988.

The court also heard allegations dating from between January 2000 and November 2003, including claims of indecency with a child, indecent assault, rape and attempted rape. Additional counts relate to alleged offences said to have taken place between September 2000 and August 2003, while the most recent allegation on the indictment concerns sexual activity with a child between April and September 2008.

Opening the case, the prosecution alleged Kenniford targeted boys known to him over a number of years, including family members and friends of his son.

The jury heard allegations of grooming behaviour, with claims that some of the boys were offered money or gifts, and in some cases exposed to sexualised behaviour and pornography before or during the alleged abuse.

One of the first complainants referred to in the prosecution case was a young relative who, the jury heard, alleged that Kenniford invited him into bed at his grandparents’ home before touching him indecently. The court was also told of a further allegation that, on another occasion, the boy was invited into the defendant’s home, where it is alleged he was offered money to touch the defendant sexually.

Further allegations concern another complainant, who the jury heard was between the ages of seven and ten at the time of the alleged offences. The court was told that this complainant alleges he was asked to engage in sexual acts at the defendant’s address and that years later a text message was received which allegedly referred back to the earlier abuse.

The prosecution also outlined allegations involving the defendant’s son, who the jury heard was a child at the time. It is alleged that incidents took place over a number of years in the family home, including in the bathroom, and that the abuse escalated to rape and attempted rape.

Another complainant, described as a friend of the defendant’s son, alleges he was abused in a garage after becoming friendly with the family. The jury heard claims that he was shown pornographic material, indecently assaulted, and given gifts including money and computer games.

A further complainant alleges that, in 2008, after becoming friendly with the defendant’s son, he received inappropriate messages and was later taken to the defendant’s home, where sexual activity allegedly took place in the garage.

During proceedings, jurors heard a recorded police interview conducted in June 2021 with one complainant, who described what he said were his earliest memories of abuse from the age of five.

In that interview, the complainant alleged he was taken from the area of the Red Roses pub in Pembroke Dock to the Fire House on Co-operation Terrace, where he said he was offered small amounts of money to remove his clothes and spend time with the defendant.

The complainant later gave evidence before the jury and appeared visibly distressed at times during questioning. He forcefully rejected the defence case and insisted the events described were not something he could have forgotten.

The jury also heard from another complainant, who similarly rejected suggestions put to him by the defence and described the defendant as a “bad man”.

Family witnesses also gave evidence. One witness told the court that, in 2021, her brother disclosed that he had been abused as a child. Another witness said concerns had been raised within the family many years earlier, when children were said to have complained that the defendant had asked to see their genitals.

The court heard that Kenniford was first arrested on May 12, 2021. In police interview, he denied allegations made against him.

Kenniford previously appeared before magistrates, where earlier historic allegations were sent to Swansea Crown Court because of their seriousness. At that stage he denied the accusations and was granted conditional bail, including a condition that he must not contact the complainants.

The trial is expected to last two weeks and continues at Swansea Crown Court.

The complainants cannot be identified for legal reasons.