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Celtics Jim McCafferty admits absuing youngsters


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2 hours ago, RFCRobertson said:

Didn't they rehire Torbett after he was convicted of it or that? 

Not after conviction. It is alleged that Stein sacked him then he returned to the club as a fund raiser a couple of years later. This Herald article from 1998 explains a bit.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12364258.Celtic_Boys_apos__Club_founder_guilty_of_shameless_indecency_Anger_over_allegations_suggesting_that_Jock_Stein_was_involved_in_20_year_cover_up/

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14 minutes ago, TheBluebells said:

celtic and hibs heavily involved it seems, sure they have something in common aswell...

 

I think that since these clubs were shat in to existence they have been at it, maybe a Kaffilic thing?

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Copied this from the DR : Warning , it is rather fucking disgusting. 

 

A former kitman for Celtic, Hibs and Falkirk has confessed to a sickening campaign of sexual abuse of young footballers over two decades.

Youth coach Jim McCafferty now faces a police investigation and a possible prosecution and prison sentence.

But any justice he receives will come too late for his many victims.

The Daily Record today reveals how John Gaffney, one of the young players McCafferty admits preying on, took his own life more than 30 years later.

John’s widow is convinced the abuse he suffered was to blame.

And another victim, assaulted by McCafferty “about a dozen times” on a minibus after games, has told us how the abuse left him dependent on alcohol and destroyed his life.

 

'He was like Jimmy Savile': Ex-wife of youth football abuse victim says ordeal drove husband to suicide

Even as he made his stunning confession and apologised for his crimes, McCafferty, 71, remained in denial about the terrible damage he has done.

He described his serial acts of abuse as “a bit of fun, a bit of hilarity”. And he spoke of enjoying “teenage orgies” with boys in the dressing room after victories.

McCafferty even had the gall to claim that the sexual abuse he inflicted helped “toughen up” one of the boys he was trusted to look after.

And as he finally admitted his crimes and “paedophile tendencies”, it was clear he had far more pity for himself than his victims.

McCafferty, who now lives in Belfast, told us at his home: “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 waited decades to admit his guilt after preying on teenagers in the 80s and 90s while coaching at boys’ and junior teams at West Lothian.

He also abused young players at Celtic between 1990 and 1996.

McCafferty named five victims – two from Celtic – when he spoke to us. But he later said there were “about a dozen”, and admitted he didn’t know all their names ...

He said he never raped boys, but admitted sexually touching their private parts. He confessed to regular sexual contact, including fondling and masturbation, with his victims.

McCafferty described his abuse as “not going the whole way, but going some of the way”.

 

Jim McCafferty's sordid past goes back 20 years as kitman quit Celtic after abuse claims

He added: “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.”

Bizarrely, McCafferty claimed he preyed on one boy – a particular favourite of his – to “toughen him up”.

He recalled: “One of the boys was a very mummy’s boy, a soft boy. He was my favourite but he needed toughened up.

“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 all.

“The boys weren’t bad at football and I was trying to help them, to bring them to people’s attention, to take notice of them.”

Jim McCafferty (back left) celebrates with the Celtic Youth team following their 4-1 victory over Dundee in the BP Youth Cup Final at Hampden Park in 1996

McCafferty saw it as his job to help form the character of young boys in his care. But he chose to use physical and sexual assault to do it.

He admitted he often touched boys private parts and pulled their penises, describing it as “a bit of fun, a bit of hilarity on that side”.

And when asked if he had rubbed boot polish on one boy’s private parts – an incident described to us by one of his victims – he replied: “I wouldn’t deny and say it didn’t happen because there’s that possibility it would have happened, yes.”

Even though he was a grown man in his 30s and 40s at the time, McCafferty admitted he would strip naked and join boys in the showers after games.

He said he would then take part in “horseplay”, touching and pulling at boys’ private parts.

McCafferty said he understood, even as he was doing it, that it was wrong. But he claimed the boys were “messing about” among themselves and enjoying it, although he should have taken control of the situation.

He said: “I saw what was happening and I thought, ‘No that’s not right.’ When they were all messing about in the dressing room and things, common sense would come to you.

“Yes, it could become too much. But then again sometimes it was taken for the way it’s meant to be, as fun.

“Back then it was normal, run-of-the-mill stuff, just playing the game. After a home win the excitement would be heightened.”

McCafferty compared the scenes in some dressing rooms after victories to “a teenage orgy”.

He added: “Yes, that’s what it was like. It was a bit of fun and enjoyment for them to have, but as adults we should have used our brains and stepped in and stopped it.

“I’ve regretted it for years. It has haunted me and I’ve not had a good night’s sleep for a long time.

“Tonight, I feel unburdened.”

McCafferty said he craved the company of boys because of loneliness and confusion about his own sexuality.

And when we asked him if he had paedophile tendencies, he admitted: “To a certain extent, yes.”

He added: “Not just because I like young boys. But it’s just a case that you’re there, involved with them and that side of them.”

McCafferty said he was no longer a threat to teenagers because he is no longer involved in football.

Asked if touching boys in the way he did amounted to paedophilia, he said: “I suppose to a certain extent the answer would have to be yes. But the point is I’m away from it.”

McCafferty denied grooming any boys, saying: “I wouldn’t have known what grooming was.”

And despite his claims to be haunted by his past crimes, he admits he still thinks back fondly to the days when he was surrounded by boys.

“They made me feel good,” he said. “I felt very physically good with them.

“It make me that wee bit extra cheerful. They’d have a laugh and a joke with me, same as I had with them.”

Jim McCafferty at Falkirk

McCafferty claimed only one boy he abused ever told him to stop.

He said: “I’d have said I’d have been involved with him once, twice at the most. The one thing I think he could have over me is that he was in France playing in some competition. I had to pick them up and take them to the hotels they were in and we had a laugh and a joke.

“I grabbed him by the willy and that sort of thing, in his room.”

McCafferty said the boy was 19 at the time. He added: “He just looked at me, and I can remember because he was a wee bit of a holy holy.

“He said, ‘No Jim, just step back Jim.’”

Asked if he challenged the boy, McCafferty replied: “No, because I was very friendly with his dad.”

McCafferty was born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, and was a promising player himself as a boy. And he said that while playing youth football in England, he was subjected to the same acts he later carried out.

He said: “It happened to me. People would pull your ‘bobby’, as we called it, in those days.

“Most clubs, most players would have been involved. It was part of the game. Without a doubt there are stacks of managers who wouldn’t have, but there’s something different in the genes in me.”

McCafferty insisted he never raped a boy. He said: “No, nobody would even get away with that.”

Asked why he had finally decided to confess his abuse, he said: “Now I can take a breath again.

“My concern is if someone hurts me when I’m walking down the street.”

McCafferty has offered to hand himself in to police in Northern Ireland for questioning. Police Scotland are already investigating claims he abused young footballers in Scotland.

He says he hopes others who have been in authority in football will now come forward and face their demons.

“I’m willing to face it,” he said. “No one has accused me of raping them but I cannot lie.

“There are things I’ve done and I have to accept that. But now this is about me drawing the line.

“I don’t want to hide anything. I have been haunted by what I did.

“I was lonely and the boys made me feel good. I wanted their company without a doubt, although the greatest interest was football.”

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Quote

Jim McCafferty
December 7, 2016

Tam McManus


Having woken up this morning to the front page headlines of Jim McCafferty admitting he sexually abused boys in the 80's and 90s when he was a boy's club manager and scout, my stomach turned as would everyone else's reading the article. A lot of people would have been shocked and stunned by these revelations. I wish I could say the same.

His utter lack of remorse in his confession interview for the damage he done to those poor boys who trusted him makes my blood boil. It was as if he done the victims a favour by coming forward and admitting it. After all he didn't force them into anything right? He is a horrible sexual predator who hopefully will get locked away for a long time for what he did.

This news unfortunately never came as a surprise to me or no doubt countless other boys who came into contact with McCafferty. He was the one constant name in my mind when the sex abuse stories within football started to break this past month. I was fortunately never abused by Jim McCafferty but rumours dogged him ever since I first came into contact with him back in 1994 aged 14 when I went in and trained with Celtic.

Jim was a scout and also the kit man and he used to drive the boys in the minibus to and from games. Even then looking back I didn't feel entirely at ease with the way he acted and spoke around young boys. He seemed to have a tight group and as an outsider coming in I felt like the black sheep in the corner. I wasn't in the inner circle.

He was just a bit creepy and I never felt comfortable in his company back then albeit it was only briefly. Stories of young boys going to his house for sleepovers after games back then were rife. McCafferty was a bachelor with no kids who lived alone and whilst of course this doesn't make you a paedophile surely it's a tick in the alarm bells ringing column. Also his favourite boys being given new boots, kit or trips to watch big games began to surface. I played a couple of games for Celtic but decided to knock them back and sign for Hibs.

When I signed on full time in 1997-98 McCafferty was now the kit man at Hibs, having left Celtic for 'personal reasons' amid sex abuse claims in a national newspaper. He was a pretty popular guy among all the players and coaches to be honest. Again he would drive the youth teams to training and games all over the country. How he ended up at Hibs dealing with young players day in day out amid the abuse allegations and rumours then later on at Falkirk for a brief spell needs firmly looked at.

At Hibernian he enlisted young boys to sit with him in his kit room and help wash, clean and set out the training kit as part of our YTS duties. He was also in and out the youth team dressing room every day whilst we got showered picking up dirty kit. All in all McCafferty was at Hibs for 4-5 years. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. We even used to joke that you didn't want to get dropped off last in the minibus with Big Jim at night after games. Unfortunately as I turned out it was no laughing matter. But there was always that seed of doubt about him for me. 

He briefly moved on to Falkirk in a similar role before retiring to Ireland for health reasons. I hope that today will be a watershed for Scottish Football and victims of sexual abuse within it. That men like Jim McCafferty can spend so much time working at top clubs in our country is scandalous. There is no doubt in my mind people knew what Jim McCafferty was and chose to turn a blind eye to it. These people must be taken to task as they let down those boys as much as anyone else. More and more people will start to come out now. Unfortunately this is only the tip of a very large iceberg. 

http://www.tammcmanus.com/single-post/2016/12/07/Jim-McCafferty

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8 hours ago, RFCRobertson said:

Didn't they rehire Torbett after he was convicted of it or that? 

 

8 hours ago, Courtyard Bear said:

They did mate, he was invited back into the fold. 

Makes you wonder what information Torbett held over the Kellys.  :huh:

Wouldn't surprise me if that pedo ring went right to the top of that filthy club.

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8 minutes ago, BloodRunsBlue said:

 

Makes you wonder what information Torbett held over the Kellys.  :huh:

Wouldn't surprise me if that pedo ring went right to the top of that filthy club.

Going by the way they are talking about it over there it seems to just be a way of life for them. 

The more you read the more disgusted you become. 

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2 minutes ago, Courtyard Bear said:

Going by the way they are talking about it over there it seems to just be a way of life for them. 

The more you read the more disgusted you become. 

it really does seem to be all a bit matter of fact for them. I get the impression half of them dont understand what all the fuss is about.

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8 minutes ago, Courtyard Bear said:

Going by the way they are talking about it over there it seems to just be a way of life for them. 

The more you read the more disgusted you become. 

They're brought up with child abuse. I've no doubt it was an every day occurrence for many of them.

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Reporting Scotland the now, all about fucking hibs, hardly a peep about the fhilth, fucking bheasts broadcasting corporation. If it was us it would be the crest everywhere and the other clubs wouldn't get a mention. I honestly can't see them getting any punishment, they've got it all sown up, cunts. Justice in modern Scotland? Fucking forget it.

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