Celtic Boys’ Club chair convicted for sexual abuse

A former Celtic Boys’ Club chairman has been convicted of sexually abusing four boys and a girl while he was employed as a teacher.

Gerald King, 66, taught and coached football at a primary school in the north of Glasgow during the 1980s.

His conviction comes only weeks after Celtic Boys’ Club founder Jim Torbett was jailed for a second time for abusing three boys.

King, who was also a coach at Celtic Boys’ Club, was yesterday told by Sheriff Johanna Johnston QC: “You have been convicted of serious sexual offences against pupils when you were in a position of trust.”

One man, now aged 43, told how King exposed himself to him when he was getting changed before a football game and told prosecutor Adele Macdonald “I was really embarrassed”.

After a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court, King was convicted of five charges of using lewd and libidinous practises towards the five victims between August 1984 and April 1989.

He was also found guilty of taking indecent pictures of children in February 1987. King’s victims were between nine and 13 years-old at the time.