A new victim of football’s paedophile scandal today speaks out about his ordeal at the hands of predatory scout Frank Roper – and offers the first evidence a sex ring in the game DID exist.
Jamie Forrester says vile Roper raped an 11-year-old Thai boy in front of him and other aspiring players during a tour of the Far East.
The former England youth international also claims Roper introduced him to another notorious paedophile who tried to get him to join a sleepover at the pervert’s house. Jamie, 42, an ex-Leeds United and Hull City star, told the Sunday People: “What Frank Roper did was unforgivable.
“He was a very scary and very intimidating man and he always targeted the weaker, more vulnerable boys.
“My parents put their trust in him and he abused that trust.”
Roper scouted mainly in the 1970s and 80s in the North West of England. He aimed to discover the best young players, train them and offer them to clubs.
It is known he had particularly close links to Blackpool FC.
But Jamie now believes Roper used football as a cover for abuse – and was linked to other paedophiles who saw the sport as an easy way to abuse young boys.
Jamie recalled: “Roper used to talk very often about another man and his junior team.
“He would say things like, ‘You think you’re good? They’re better than you, they’ll kick your a***’. He was always talking about this guy, who I know now was a notorious paedophile.
“A match was arranged between the two teams. I played in the match with others who went on to be professional.
“Shortly afterwards the other man made contact with my parents to invite me to his house for the weekend.
“Thankfully my parents declined because of rumours about him.
“To me it suggests an organised network was in place and that Roper and the other man were colluding.
“There was no other way for that man to have got hold of my parents’ phone number without the help of Roper.”
The worst moment came in the 80s when Jamie and other young players accompanied Roper on a five-day all-expenses paid football tour to Thailand. But Jamie found himself at the centre of an ordeal which still haunts him.
His voice breaking with emotion, he said: “One night during the trip we went out to watch Thai boxing.
“Roper had a young Thai boy, about 11 or 12, the same age as us, sitting on his knee.
“I can remember thinking at the time, ‘What’s going on?’ but I was only 11, I didn’t feel like I could say anything.
“The Thai boy came back with us to our hotel and because we were all staying in the same room he came in to the room and we all got into bed.
"The lights went out and the next thing Roper started molesting the Thai boy and then began having sex with him in the bed next to us.
“Even though I was only a kid and I had clearly never had sex before I knew exactly what was going on.
“I could hear loud heavy breathing and I could see all the movements.
“I was in the bed next to him and it happening two yards away. He was clearly having sex.
“It was terrifying and I felt like it was all completely out of my control. I was very scared.
“Me and the other boys all lay in absolute silence. There was no way any of us could have done or said anything.
“I felt like I had to pretend I wasn’t there and it was like we were frozen statues. In the morning he was still laid there in bed with Roper.
“Only that boy knows how he was feeling, but despite my age I knew it wasn’t right and it shouldn’t have been happening. When the boy left it was like nothing had happened.
“There were other times where we were forced to leave the bedroom and were left outside for hours at a time.
“I don’t know what Roper was up to at those times, I can only guess.”
Jamie was considered one of the country’s best young players and went on to forge a successful 18-year professional career.
He joined Premier League champions Leeds United in 1992 before playing for Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe United, Dutch club Utrecht, Northampton Town, Hull City, Bristol Rovers, Lincoln City and Notts County.
0 comments:
Post a Comment