A FORMER football coach currently serving time for the sexual abuse of young boys has been handed a further jail term.
On Tuesday, 75-year-old Jim Torbett was sentenced to three years in jail after being found guilty of four charges of sexual abusing a young player more than 50 years ago.
He was previously jailed in 2018 after being convicted of sexual assaults against three boys — two of whom played for Celtic Boys Club — that were carried out between 1986 and 1994.
Torbett, who founded Celtic Boys Club in 1966, was also jailed for two years in 1998 for abusing three of that club's players between 1967 and 1974.
Speaking after the latest conviction, Detective Inspector Jim McLauchlan of Police Scotland said: "We hope this conviction brings some measure of closure to his victim."
Denied charges
The latest case relates to Torbett's abuse of a teenage boy between 1967 and 1968.
The assaults occurred when he was a coach at a local football team in Glasgow.
According to BBC News, the abuse was carried out in Torbett's car, at a flat and at a toy shop.
The court heard how he kissed the boy on the lips and put his hand down his shorts.
Torbett had denied the charges but was found guilty at the High Court in Inverness.
He will serve the sentence after his current six-year jail term ends.
Following his 2018 sentencing, Celtic FC — which is not officially affiliated to Celtic Boys Club but has 'historic contacts' — expressed its sympathy for Torbett's victims.
Responsibility
"We are very aware of how difficult it can be to report being a victim of child abuse," added DI McLaughlin after Tuesday's sentencing.
"It can take many years before people feel able to report.
"Our assurance to anyone who may have been a victim of child abuse is that when they are ready to report we will listen, we will investigate and we will take prompt action to ensure that no-one else is at risk of harm.
"We are all responsible for protecting Scotland's children.
"It is up to all of us to recognise when a child may be at risk and to take steps to protect them and to prevent harm.
"It is also up to us to create an environment where people feel able to report being a victim of sexual crime without feeling shame."
