Victims demand Sox atone for abuse

21 men have come forward

A group of men sexually abused over decades by a former equipment and clubhouse manager for the Boston Red Sox under Tom Yawkey are demanding the team acknowledge and make amends for the abuse as it moves to scrub reminders of Yawkey’s racist past.

“How could he continue for years? It had to be something or someone who was helping him cover this up,” said Gerald Armstrong, who said he was molested by Donald Fitzpatrick as an 11-year-old employee of the Kansas City Athletics when the Red Sox came to town.

Armstrong is one of 21 men who have said Fitzpatrick molested them as youths while working for baseball teams. Charles Crawford, who said he was molested in Fenway Park in 1991, said Red Sox owner John Henry’s proposal to rename Yawkey Way because of the former owner’s racist past is no comfort.

“I was kind of offended, it was a slap in the face,” Crawford said. “I saw him on TV, so concerned about the team’s image. What about me?”

Fitzpatrick, who died in 2005, admitted to sexually abusing children, pleading guilty to four counts of attempted sexual battery. Authorities said Fitzpatrick had victimized at least nine others, but the statute of limitations had run out.

“The Red Sox have done great things with Boston Strong, with the Jimmy Fund, where are they now?” said Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for the men. “It’s as though they’ve shirked all social responsibility.”

Red Sox spokeswoman Zineb Curran said, “The Red Sox have always viewed the actions — which date back as long as six decades ago — of Mr. Fitzpatrick to be abhorrent. When the team, under prior ownership, became aware of the allegations against Mr. Fitzpatrick in 1991, he was promptly relieved of his duties.”

STAFF PHOTO BY MATT WEST PAINFUL PLIGHT: Gerald Armstrong, the oldest of Red Sox employee Donald Fitzpatrick’s alleged victims, speaks about the team’s failure to address his issue as parts of John Henry’s efforts to distance the team from former owner Tom Yawkey.