BOYS CLUB BEAST KEPT ABUSING ME AFTER I JOINED CELTIC FC
Victim: Torbett was regular at ‘big club’
CELTIC Boys Club pervert Jim Torbett preyed on a young player with the “big team”, it’s claimed.
Kenny Campbell was abused as a child by Torbett for years. He says the hell didn’t stop when he signed for Celtic FC because Torbett was a regular at Parkhead.
A VICTIM of Celtic Boys Club paedophile Jim Torbett claims he continued to be abused after he signed for the “big” club.
Kenny Campbell was preyed on by Torbett when he was in the under-14s squad. And the former player claims he was still in the pervert’s grip after he was taken on by Celtic FC.
Kenny appears in a team photo of young Hoops players in front of the main stand at Celtic Park in 1988.
He said that during his time as a youth player, Torbett was a regular presence at Parkhead. Kenny claimed he often turned up to conduct business or discuss recruits with Parkhead bosses.
He added: “I was playing with Celtic Boys Club until I was 16. Then, I was signed on S-forms by Billy McNeill in his office.
“I was still being abused after that, right up until I was 17.”
Speaking about the photo, Kenny said: “That was a proud day being in that team group. But I was still being abused at that point.”
The photo appeared in a Celtic programme from 1988. Under the heading Reserve Scene, the line-up are referred to as “The Young Team”.
Kenny’s claims challenge Celtic’s position that they have no responsibility for the abuse meted out by Torbett.
Last month, Torbett, 71, who founded Celtic Boys Club, was jailed for six years after being convicted of abusing Kenny and two other boys between August 1986 and August 1994.
He was previously jailed for two years in 1998 for abusing three Celtic Boys Club players between 1967 and 1974.
The trial last month heard how Torbett was ordered to leave by Celtic in the 70s. But he was brought back, allowing him to prey on new victims.
Celtic FC say they are an “entirely separate organisation” from the boys club. Torbett’s victims and their
families have described the club’s position as “disgusting”, saying the close relationship meant the boys club and Celtic were intertwined.
Talking about the abuse after he signed for Celtic, Kenny, 46, said: “It happened sometimes two, three times a night.
“Everything was done on his terms. I was under his spell. I was in Torbett’s gang. I was his right-hand man.”
Kenny joined Celtic Boys Club at under-13 level. He claimed the abuse started when he moved to the under14s, who were coached by Torbett. Kenny said: “I
was abused as soon as I joined the under-14s and it carried on right up until after that picture was taken.
“The sexual abuse happened at his flat. It was like a ritual. To me, it was just a natural thing, however weird that sounds now. He convinced me that we weren’t doing anything wrong.
“He lavished me with gifts. One Christmas, he gave me a chain with a gold medallion with the Celtic crest on it and five £100 notes. I would have been 15 at the time.”
There is no suggestion that anyone else in the photo was abused or that anyone in the image was responsible for any wrongdoing.
Kenny said that although Torbett had no input into the training of ground staff players, he freely walked the corridors of Celtic Park.
He added: “You would always see him at Celtic Park. He had a lot of power with the big noises. He’d be there for business reasons or whatever.”
Kenny blames Celtic for allowing Torbett back after he was booted out in 1974.
He said: “If big Celtic didn’t let him back in, I wouldn’t be sitting here speaking to you. That’s an absolute given. I want Celtic to say sorry, to apologise, to man up.”
Of Celtic’s response following the Torbett verdict, he said: “You’ll not get a bigger Celtic fan than me but their response was disgusting.”
Kenny is seeking compensation from Celtic for the years of abuse, which he says led to drug addiction and the end of his football career.
Now clean, he said: “When I started taking drugs, I could blot everything out. I never had to think about Torbett.”
After Torbett was sentenced following his trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the sister of another victim also hit out at Celtic FC.
Andrew Gray went to the police to report Torbett’s abuse but he died in an accident in Australia, aged 41, before he could face him in court.
However, his testimony to police helped convict the predator.
Andrew’s sister Michelle said: “I’m disgusted that Celtic disassociated themselves from the boys club.”
Kenny’s lawyer Laura Connor, a partner with Thompsons Solicitors, said: “The idea that Celtic Boys Club and Celtic Football Club were not connected is clearly nonsense.
“No child that played for the boys club or their parents were in any doubt the two institutions were closely linked. It is time that Celtic FC properly compensated Kenny, who was abused on their watch.”
Thompsons are representing 11 people who claim they were abused at Celtic Boys Club, including three who say they were abused by Torbett.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday, former Celtic Boys Club chairman Gerald King, 66, was convicted of abusing four boys and a girl while he was a teacher in Glasgow in the 80s. Sentenced was deferred.
Celtic declined to comment last night.
But following Torbett’s conviction, they issued a statement saying: “Celtic Football Club wish to express our deep regret that the incidents took place and sympathy for the victims who suffered abuse.
“Although Celtic Football Club are an entirely separate organisation, we have always taken these allegations extremely seriously because of our historic contacts with Celtic Boys Club.”