A string of victims have emerged as Paisley paedophile Hugh Stevenson’s catalogue of depravity is laid bare.
They have vowed to speak about their ordeal at the hands of predator Stevenson, in a bid to force justice after the beast died in 2004 without facing criminal sanction.
A new victim, who has come forward, told the Express that twisted Stevenson abused him in his car in front of other teenage victims as he took them on weekend outings in the 1970s.
And he revealed that Stevenson was also involved with youngsters at Ferguslie’s Apex Centre.
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Just 14 at the time, the man – who has a right to anonymity as a victim of sexual crime – told how he took to wearing two pairs of trousers reinforced with a safety pin, in a bid to make sure he could not be targeted.
He told the Express: “I was going around in the hot summer in the 1970s with two pairs of trousers on, with a safety pin behind the zip, because I thought he wouldn’t get my trousers down.”
The victim met Stevenson because of his friendship with his pal’s family and the duo ended up being targeted by the beast.
He said: “He would take us a run on a Sunday, there were three boys in the back and one in the front. At one point he told me it was my turn, I could sit in the front.
“He used to ask if you wanted to do the gears but when your hands were on the gearstick, he would undo your trousers. The other three were sitting in the back.”
The man, whose father had died shortly before Stevenson began preying on him was 14 at the time, in 1976. He added: “I think he molested me at least 30 times. It went on for a few months but in the end my friend, who was also being abused and I wrote a letter, in it we told him that if he ever came near us again, we would go to the police.
“We put it in a brown envelope because it was the only thing we could find and put it through his door in Greenock Road. He never came near me again.
“He used to take boys a run down the coast to Ayrshire, Largs or Saltcoats and buy them an ice cream.
“Sometimes it would be late at night he would take us out, sometimes he took us to a lay-by down by Bishopton.”
The victim says Stevenson, who died in 2004, continued to be acquainted with teenage boys, adding: “He was involved with the Apex Centre in Ferguslie Park, I used to go there as well and we used to have a shower up there when we played tennis or football and he was always hovering about.”
Now 60, he told he encountered Stevenson again as an adult, saying: “I went to an under-21 international at Love Street, I think I was about 18 and he was running the line. I shouted at him and he sort of glanced up then he dropped his head and went up the tunnel.”
He has rarely spoken about his trauma at the hands of Stevenson, and said: “My partner knows. It’s something that stays with you but it’s not something you talk about growing up in Ferguslie.”
He fears that other friends also fell prey to Stevenson.
A second man, who says he earlier spoke to police of his ordeal, has also told how Stevenson targeted boys from Renfrewshire when he was involved with Glasgow youth football side Eastercraigs, also in the 1970s.
He claims he knows more victims who played with the team around the same time.
The victims have come forward following an Express probe into the actions of twisted paedophile after victim Pete Haynes, who was serially raped between the ages of 12 and 16 by the predator – who died aged 66, began a renewed campaign to highlight his attacker’s actions.
He fears Stevenson, who was involved with youth football teams including Ferguslie United, had “more victims than Jimmy Savile” and was part of a paedophile ring operating in the town from at the least the 1970s.
Pete, who went to police in the 1990s, and other victims have never seen anyone brought to justice.
The 56-year-old told the Express: “I have been working at this for 30 years, trying to put the pieces together, and it’s only now since the articles have appeared in the Express that people are coming forward.”
Victim Pete Haynes has waived his right to anonymity in a bid to get justice for Stevenson’s victims.
Despite a probe after social care worker Pete went to Police in 1993 and again in 1996, Stevenson was never brought to justice.
He was serially raped by Stevenson between the ages of 12 and 16 as a schoolboy footballer after the predator won the trust of his parents and took him to a glittering Scottish Cup match at Hampden in 1979.
In the way home in the car the beast, who was always decked out in an SFA blazer, began a cycle of torment which lasted until shattered Pete stood up to his abuser as a 16-year-old.
The ordeal shattered Pete, who grew up just yards from the home of his attacker in Paisley’s Greenock Road.
Stevenson, who is believed to have been on the Scottish Football Association’s books as an assistant referee between the 1960s and the 1980s, had links to a number of youth football teams, including Glasgow’s Eastercraigs and Ferguslie United.
He died without ever facing a court for his crimes and victims including Pete, who now lives in Fife, and Paisley man Stuart McMillan launched a legal action against the SFA but the bid stalled on legal technicalities.
They fear a “cover up” has led to their bid to see justice defeated.
Sickened Pete also wrote to the Scottish Government demanding a platform for victims of abuse in football after a move to investigate their plight as part of the ongoing Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was denied.
Pete said: “People like me, who suffered abuse in football at the hands of Hugh Stevenson, have never had the chance to stand up and tell their story and tell people what happened to them.
“I have had to fight myself to get my story out there. I have had to tell psychologists and therapists, doctors and journalists and every time I have go back and tell people exactly what happened to me, it takes a toll on my life all over again.”
He fears victims run into hundreds because Stevenson had “unfettered access” to youngsters from at least the 1970s and Pete believes he may have remained active until his death.
We also told how 60-year-old Foxbar man Stuart McMillan was targeted by Stevenson who molested him as a 17-year-old after he signed up to train as a football referee.
Now the pair who admit they “don’t trust” the authorities, are hopeful that the emergence of new victims will fuel their campaign for justice.
Pete has never been compensated for the ordeal he suffered and said he has little faith in investigations conducted by the SFA and the Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA).
Renfrewshire-based SYFA official Mitch Agnew, was cleared to return in 2017 over allegations that he failed to act on allegations of child sexual abuse made in the 1990s.
Youth football’s governing body launched an investigation into Mr Agnew’s conduct after they were made aware of allegations in 1999, but cleared him of any wrongdoing as they were “unable to identify any substantive proof” during a 2016 investigation.
Police Scotland has vowed to examine any new evidence.
DCI Steven Bertram, of the force’s National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “We understand how difficult it can be to report being the victim of child abuse.
“We would like to reassure anyone who has been a victim, or knows of someone who has been a victim, that if they wish to report we will listen, all reports will be fully investigate and we will take prompt action to ensure that no-one else is at risk of harm.”
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