A victim of Celtic Boys Club beast Jim Torbett has said he hopes he "rots in jail". Gordon Woods has bravely waived his right to anonymity to tell the Daily Record he has finally taken back power from the man who terrified him as a child.
Torbett, who began attacking Woods when he was just 13, was convicted of child abuse for the third time on Tuesday. Gordon told a jury at the high court in Inverness how Torbett, 75, sexually assaulted him up to 40 times between 1967 and 1968. The attacks took place in the paedophile's flat and his car and in the back of a toy shop in Glasgow.
Gordon, now 68, said: "I hope Torbett rots in jail for the pain and suffering he has caused to countless families. I have felt guilt, shame and embarrassment for over 30 years, but I have now achieved what I set out to do.
"I have taken back control from Torbett. I faced him in a court of law. The court offered me a screen so he couldn't see me, but I refused. I wanted him to look at me when I told the court what he did to me.
"I wanted to show he has no power over me anymore."
Gordon said he broke down when the jury delivered their guilty verdict and convicted Torbett of three charges of indecent assault and one of using lewd and libidinous behaviour. He continued: "My 13-year-old daughter texted me straight after I told her the result and she said: 'I'm so proud of you dad'.
"I broke down. Torbett's conviction is the right result for anyone who is mentally scarred from abuse. It's over now and I can start getting my life back together. This has given me so much more strength."
Recalling his childhood ordeal, Gordon told how Torbett would create situations to abuse him and would often take him to events but force him to wear his Celtic Boys Club kit so his parents didn't become suspicious about where he was going. He said he grew to become so terrified of the twisted coach that he led a life of secrecy to protect his loved ones finding out the truth about what he was suffering.
He added: "The first time he abused me - in his car - he grabbed my leg and said 'don't worry, Gordon, I won't tell your parents what you have done. I had a sense that it was my fault that it happened. I was terrified of him.
"I never told anyone about it because I wanted to protect everyone from knowing what he did to me."
Gordon buried his abuse for three decades, unaware that there were even other victims, until his mum told him on her deathbed that other children had also been attacked and that his parents had known for years. Her shocking revelation also sparked a memory for Gordon - of his parents confronting Torbett in their home one night.
Gordon said: "I never knew my parents knew. My mum was dying when she told me my dad had found a letter in my room that I had written to Torbett asking him to stop hurting me.
"Then I remembered a night when Torbett had come to my house and I was sent to my room. I heard shouting and when I went down he was gone. My parents had confronted him at the time.
"It was also then that mum told me there had been other victims. But even then, I didn't want to tell her the full extent of what happened to me.
"She died a few days later and within days my dad also had a stroke and died. I was devastated that I never got the opportunity to speak to him.
"But I had spent so long desperately trying to keep my secret from everyone."
Gordon believes many victims of historic abuse at Celtic Boys Club have yet to come forward and hopes his story will encourage others not to suffer alone. He said: "I'd urge any victim reading this to come forward. You will be believed. These people can't hurt you now.
"If I can achieve justice then so can you. There are people waiting to help. Don't suffer in silence.
"It's time we took control over predators."
Gordon is also adamant that it is time for Celtic FC to take accountability for the abuse which took place over four decades. He continued: "The perpetrator has been found guilty and the perpetrator has been punished. But I believe Celtic should be held responsible.
"When I was at the boys club I was told I was part of the 'Celtic family'. So Celtic need to be held accountable. Children's lives were destroyed because of the abuse that happened at that club."
The Daily Record has contacted Celtic Football Club for comment.
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