Reports of historic child abuse are once again headlining in the media. Unfortunately, this is not for the first time in recent years and serves to highlight further the issues which sadly appear to have been prevalent within many organisations and institutions over the recent past.
The focus of the media now is in relation to the Football Association investigation into allegations of sexual abuse suffered by former footballers during their time at youth squads and youth teams.
According to recent media reports, several former footballers, including David White, Andy Woodward and Steve Walters have all publicly spoken out about abuse they suffered at the hands of Barry Bennell who was a coach at Crewe Alexandra in the 1980s and 1990s. Not only, in fact, was he a football coach, but the papers report that he had previously been employed at a children’s care home and subsequently ran summer holiday camps, youth football tours and summer soccer camps in the United States. On the face of it, at the time, it appeared that Barry Bennell was a great ambassador for youth football and a dedicated team leader. However, in 1994, he was jailed for two years in the United States for raping a British boy on a football tour. Subsequently, once he returned to the UK, he was charged with, and admitted to 23 charges of sexual offences against six boys aged between 9 and 15. He was subsequently released in 2004. In May 2015, he was sentenced to a further two years imprisonment after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a boy at a camp in Macclesfield in 1980.
Further news reports confirm that the football club at which Barry Bennell was a coach, Crewe Alexandra, have denied any knowledge of his predatory nature during his time at the club. However, he was sacked by Crewe Alexandra in 1992 for reasons that have never been made public, just two years prior to his first arrest in respect of sexual abuse allegations. The Guardian newspaper has reported that Mr Hamilton Smith, a Director at Crewe Alexandra from 1986 to 1990, confirmed that the Club had in fact heard an allegation that Bennell had sexually abused a junior footballer but that his fellow Directors had allowed him to stay at the club as they did not wish to rely on hearsay and gossip. Clearly, if it transpires or becomes evident that the Club had any knowledge of Bennell’s abusive behaviour, then they must be deemed to have allowed these young boys to be in the care of Bennell when they knew or ought to have known, that by doing so, they were placing those young boys at risk of harm at the hands of Bennell.
Not all of the recent allegations made by former footballers have been directly in relation to Barry Bennell and, indeed, further news reports confirm that an anonymous allegation has also been made against George Ormond, who was the former Newcastle United youth coach jailed in 2002 for offences against young footballers in the area. He was convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault between 1975 and 1999.
The NSPCC has set up a hotline for victims of sexual abuse at football clubs and have asked any such victims to come forward in order to receive the necessary counselling and assistance and, also, to assist the Police and the authorities in relation to their investigations. Unfortunately, it would appear that these incidents of assault, now brought to the public domain, will prove to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Anybody affected by, or with knowledge of, any abuse suffered by young footballers, at the hands of their coaches or at summer holiday camps is urged to telephone the NSPCC Hotline on (0800) 023 2642.
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) can be contacted on (0808) 801 0331.
If you have been affected by any of the matters above, or have suffered abuse as a child, or adult, our Janine Griffiths may be able to offer advice and assistance to you in relation to the options available to you, potential compensation and putting you in receipt of appropriate counselling etc. If you have been affected by the above please telephone Janine Griffiths on 029 2047 5100.