Ex-Youth Soccer Coach Jailed For 20 Years On 35 Counts Of Sexual Assault On Young Boys
George Ormond was a coach for the Newcastle United youth team between the 1970s and 1980s. This included work with the Montagu and North Fenham boys’ club. In the 1990s, he worked for the Premier League club. And during that time, Ormond was busy, not just coaching the kids, but sexually assaulting young boys. Now found guilty, Ormond will be sent to jail for 20 years on 35 counts of sexual assault against 18 different underage victims, according to News 18.
The victims were reportedly as young as 11-years-old, and Ormond is accused of abusing his power, as described by Justice Edward Bindloss.
“Evidence showed that over a 25-year period, George Ormond was a man wholly preoccupied with sex who used his position as a respected football coach to target boys and young men in his care.”
Ormond is the first to be charged as a result of Operation Tide, which is unearthing historic child sex abuse at football clubs in northeast England.
The first indication of Ormond’s criminal activity came to light in 2016 when victims started speaking out about the sexual assault that they had endured.
The trial lasted six weeks, as described by the Independent. The victims were young boys then, but they are now largely in their 50s. One victim said that “football was everything to me. The dream turned into a living nightmare,” while others described how “because of the times they lived in and the circumstances of their lives [how that] meant they were unable to speak about [the abuse.]”
Meet Derek Bell, who helped catch the man who abused him as a child by secretly recording his confession on tape.
George Ormond has been convicted of abusing 18 other boys
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— Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) July 3, 2018
Additionally, the coach enforced a “no underpants” rule during training. Not only would he tell the players not to wear underwear, he would look down their shorts to check that they were following the “rule.” Ormond would also rub liniment on the boys’ legs, using it as an excuse to grope boys. The ex-coach also allegedly grabbed a boy’s penis while he was going to the bathroom and said, “I’ll hold that for you, it’s OK it happens all the time.”
Ormond coerced the players into silence by telling them that “you want to play football, you want to play for me, this is what happens. Tell anybody, they won’t believe you, I am trusted more than you,” according to the Daily Mail.
Football coach George Ormond jailed for 20 years for #childabuse https://t.co/84O0trxVp2
— Dino Nocivelli (@DinoNocivelli) July 4, 2018
And indeed, Ormond put forth a good cover image, as he was “well-liked and trusted” and “popular with young people and their parents,” said prosecutor Sharon Beattie.
Previously in 2002, Ormond was sentenced to six years for seven counts of abuse, reported Sports Illustrated. The abuse took place between 1975 and 1999 against boys under 16-years-old.
