Woods says Torbett exercised tremendous power over the boys. He could decide their future as players or rejects – a position he cynically exploited. "I was frightened to say anything to Torbett because the dream of playing for Celtic was still there, even though here I was all of a sudden in this nightmare. He could put the fear of God into you. I went home that evening and never said a word to anyone about it. When I went along to the next training session, Torbett acted as if nothing had happened at all."
伍兹说托贝特对男孩们行使着巨大的权力。他可以决定他们的未来:成为球员,或被淘汰。他正是利用了这一点。“我很害怕跟托贝特说些什么,因为我‘为凯尔特踢球’的梦想还在那里,即便是在那里坠入了噩梦。他会令你感到畏惧。那天晚上我回到家,对任何人都没有说起过这件事。后来在我参加下一次训练的时候,托贝特就好像什么事情都没发生过一样。”
Celtic Boys Club was at the time regarded as the elite youth football side in Scotland, and a potential entry into life as a full-time professional for thousands of young players. But for more than two decades it was also a magnet for paedophiles. At least six men connected with the Celtic Boys Club have come under investigation for sexually assaulting boys between the late 1960s and the early 90s. Three of them have been convicted and have served prison sentences.
“凯尔特男孩俱乐部”在当时是苏格兰公认的精英青年足球俱乐部,也是成千上万名年轻球员进入全职职业生涯的一个潜在入口。但20多年来,那里也是恋童癖们的向往之地。20世纪60年代末到90年代初有6名以上与“凯尔特男孩俱乐部”有关的男子因性侵男孩而接受调查,其中三人已被定罪并服刑。
Now 21 of survivors are bringing a civil case against the club, which will be heard next year. The litigants include at least one prominent ex-Celtic player, and former professional players for other Scottish Premiership sides and Scotland's national team. They are seeking damages from the parent club, which they claim had "corporate responsibility" for child grooming, assaults and rape by men with longstanding connections to Celtic Park. The survivors and their families believe the leadership of the club knew about the abuse and did nothing about it. They also allege that Torbett was dismissed from the Boys Club in 1974 following accusations of abuse, but was allowed back into the club after four years, where he continued to work with young boys.
如今,有21名受害者对该俱乐部提起了民事诉讼,案件将于明年进行审理。诉讼当事人包括1名及以上著名的前凯尔特人球员以及其他苏格兰英超球队和苏格兰国家队的前职业球员。他们正向其母俱乐部寻求赔偿,声称该俱乐部对儿童装束、殴打和强奸行为负有“企业责任”,这些行为都是与“凯尔特人公园球场”有长期关系的男性所为。受害者和他们的家人认为俱乐部的领导层知晓虐待但却无动于衷。他们还声称托贝特在1974年因被指控虐待而被男孩俱乐部开除,但四年后又被允许重新回到俱乐部并继续和年轻男孩们一起工作。
Celtic's official response is that none of this abuse was linked in any way with the parent club, and that the Boys Club was a separate legal entity. Survivors say this denial has added to their trauma and claim this is typical of the club's attitude: had the parent club listened to the voices of survivors from early on, the abusers' reign would not have lasted so long.
凯尔特的官方回应是,这些虐待行为与其母俱乐部没有任何联系,男孩俱乐部是一个独立的法律实体。然而,受害者认为这种否认是在他们的伤口上撒盐,并声称这是俱乐部的托词:如若其母俱乐部从一开始便愿意倾听受害者的声音,那么施虐者的统治应该早已瓦解。
As a teenager, Gordon Woods ran away from home and spent decades living and working as far from Scotland as he could. He never spoke of the abuse he suffered. Now 65, he has built a life for himself in a small village in rural Aberdeenshire. Recently he found out that, after a particularly bad incident, his parents had become concerned and tried to raise the alarm about Torbett's behaviour.
戈登·伍兹十几岁时便离开家乡,几十年来一直在远离苏格兰的地方生活和工作。在此期间他从未谈及自己所遭受的虐待。现年65岁的他在阿伯丁郡的一个小村庄里开启了自己新的生活。直到近期他才知道自己的父母在一次特别严重的事故后开始担心并试图对托贝特的行为发出警告。