Paedophile football coach convicted of 43 counts of child sex abuse
PAEDOPHILE football coach Barry Bennell raped and assaulted at least 115 young boys in his care, it emerged yesterday, as he faced spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Bennell was convicted of a total of 43 charges of child sex abuse against 11 victims after a jury at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday found him guilty of seven more counts. Before the trial, Bennell had pleaded guilty to seven counts of indecent assault involving a 12th boy. It is understood that 86 new victims have come forward since the start of the latest investigation.
Victims groups have urged police to bring further prosecutions against Bennell to ensure all those who suffered at his hands receive justice.
During the trial, Bennell, who worked for a string of football clubs, including Stoke City, Crewe Alexandra and Manchester City, was described as a “child molester on an industrial scale”, who used the promise of making children football stars to groom them and then stop them speaking out.
Several of his victims are now preparing to sue clubs where the youth coach worked for what could be millions of pounds in compensation.
The 64-year-old had previously been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to 23 counts of sex abuse against 15 children aged nine to 14 between 1978 and 1992.
That followed his conviction for sexual battery against a 13-year-old Staffordshire boy during a football tour of the United States. He was also sentenced to two years in May 2015 after pleading guilty to abusing a boy at a football camp in Macclesfield in 1990. Victims today condemned what they described as the repeated missed chances to put a stop to his activities.
Bennell abused the boys at his homes, where he had arcade games and exotic pets, including a puma and a monkey, but also on trips away and in his car to and from training.
Steven Walters, a former Crewe Alexandra player who was one of those abused, hit out at the football establishment for caring more about the reputation of clubs than the safety of children. “For years, hundreds of us were groomed, in plain view. How can it be that no one realised something was wrong? How is it that no one protected us then?”
A cheer of “yes” came from the public gallery where six complainants sat with family members as the final verdicts were read out.
Bennell, who changed his name to Richard Jones and appeared via video link from prison, shook his head and muttered when the verdicts were returned.
He will be sentenced on Monday.
Football’s shame: Sport, page 2 and 3