March 12 – English Premier League champions Manchester City have launched a compensation scheme for victims of historical child sexual abuse experienced while at the club.
The move came following investigations into the conduct of two of City’s former youth coaches, saying the victims “were entitled to expect full protection from the kind of harm they suffered as a result of their sexual abuse as children.”
Just over a year ago, former coach Barry Bennell (pictured), the serial paedophile whose sickening treatment of aspiring youngsters mainly in the 1980s rocked British football, was sentenced to 31 years in jail for 50 counts of child sexual abuse.
Bennell, described in court as the “devil incarnate” and a “child molester on an industrial scale”, was convicted of abusing 12 boys aged eight to 15 between 1979 and 1991. Another 86 people have since come forward to make complaints of abuse against him
City did not reveal financial details of the scheme, but the BBC reported the club were set to offer millions of pounds in compensation. The BBC also reported that City know of 40 potential claimants to their compensation fund and are braced for more cases.
“The club reiterates … its heartfelt sympathy to all victims for the unimaginably traumatic experiences that they endured,” City said in a statement.
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