SEX ABUSE SCANDAL ENGULFS SCOTTISH FOOTBALL
SCOTTISH football was facing a deepening child sex abuse scandal last night as further revelations rocked the game. After a deluge of complaints about serial assaults on youth players, the sport’s bosses have already apologised over their handling of past allegations.
But the game suffered a fresh blow yesterday after former youth coach Jim McCafferty was charged with a child sex offence in Northern Ireland.
McCafferty, 71, who worked as a kit man at Celtic, Hibernian and Falkirk, was heavily involved in junior football across Central Scotland and Ireland from the 1980s.
It came amid reports that he had admitted
sexually abusing Scottish youth players over a 20-year period.
In a newspaper interview, he claimed he had lost count of how many he had targeted and wanted to confess to ‘cleanse his soul’.
In a further twist, Police Scotland last night said they were investigating a separate report of ‘non-recent sexual abuse’ in relation to McCafferty.
And only hours later, Scottish Premiership side Partick Thistle admitted sacking one of their employees in 1992 after abuse allegations came to light, but the club failed to report the matter to police at the time.
It come after a week of disclosures, that have included:
Former Crewe Alexandra coach and convicted paedophile Barry Bennell was accused of abusing former player Douglas Gilligan, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, at a holiday camp when he was aged 13;
Former Hibs and Rangers youth coach Gordon Neely was sacked by the Ibrox club after an allegation of inappropriate behaviour towards a teenage player. Police were contacted but no action was taken against Neely, who died in 2014;
Former youth coach Hugh Stevenson, who died in 2004, was accused of a string of child sex offences, including the serial abuse of young footballer Pete Haynes.
McCafferty, originally from Wishaw, Lanarkshire, handed himself in yesterday at a police station near his home in Belfast.
Last night, Police Scotland said: ‘Police in West Lothian have received a report of non-recent sexual abuse and will commence inquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding this matter.’
It has been claimed that McCafferty abused young players while at Celtic between 1990 and 1996.
In an interview, he reportedly told the Daily Record newspaper: ‘I understand it was wrong. I was wrong and I did wrong and I am sorry. I have remorse. I know if I’m found guilty I will have to serve time, and I’ve said to myself that’s what I’ll have to pay back for what I’ve done. I’m OK with that. I hope that will cleanse my soul.’
McCafferty told the paper of his regular sexual contact with ‘about a dozen’ young players, including two at Celtic. He claimed he was ‘not going the whole way, but going some of the way’.
The former youth coach told how after matches he would strip off and join boys in the showers to take part in ‘horseplay’, adding: ‘I was getting a bit of fun and I suppose as much enjoyment. I feel bad that I was involved in it. But at the time I was thinking to myself, if they didn’t want to be involved in it, nobody forced them.’
He claimed that he targeted one young player to ‘toughen him up’ because he was ‘a very mummy’s boy, a soft boy’.
McCafferty said: ‘I took advantage of one boy. He needed a bit of life about him. It was sexual at that time. There was a lot of fondling and fun. I loved being with the boys. I had deep fondness for them.’
One of his alleged victims, now aged 47, told the paper that during the abuse, McCafferty told him: ‘I’m not doing any harm – I just want to touch you a wee bit. I’m just playing, having a bit of fun. Don’t be scared.’
Meanwhile, Partick Thistle admitted that they sacked former club physiotherapist John Hart in 1992 over abuse claims but did not tell police at the time.
Hart died three years later and a fulsome tribute to him was published in the club programme.
The Glasgow club said that they have now contacted the Scottish Football Association and Police Scotland to provide the information they hold and ‘will fully comply with any investigation’.
Anyone who may have suffered abuse as a child is urged to contact the dedicated NSPCC helpline on 0800 023 2642.
‘I loved being with the boys’