American prosecutors are urging victims to come forward over claims Celtic Boys Club coach Frank Cairney abused young players on trips to the US.
Officers in New Jersey want to speak to potential victims after a probe into abuse claims from the 70s to the 90s. Cairney, 87, abused boys in Scotland for decades, targeting at least 10 young footballers.
The US call comes amid claims Cairney attacked a teen during a 1991 summer tour. A source close to the New Jersey probe told the Record: “At least five boys are said to have been abused on trips to the town of Kearny, New Jersey, between the 70s and 90s.
“Three players are thought to have been abused during one trip, another teen was allegedly abused a few years later, and there are claims a local boy was preyed on. Only one incident was reported to New Jersey police and – due to the passage of time, the little information they had and the fact it involved people from Scotland – it wasn’t easy to investigate fully.
“But they take all sex offence reports very seriously. That’s why they’re urging any victims to come forward.”
Cairney was jailed for three years in 2019 for abusing seven boys over 20 years. Three further victims contacted police and earlier this year a sheriff ruled he indecently assaulted them.
Cairney was deemed unfit to stand trial due to illness but has recently been pictured walking around his home town of Uddingston, Lanarkshire.
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