In 2019, the Offender Database reported that Gerald King, then 66, of Glasgow, was sentenced at Glasgow Sheriff Court. The former teacher and Celtic Boys’ Club chairman was spared a prison sentence despite being convicted of sexually abusing four boys and a girl during the 1980s. At the same time, he was employed at a primary school in the north of Glasgow.
The court heard that Gerald King utilised his dual roles as a school teacher and a football coach to target children aged between nine and 13. Between August 1984 and April 1989, King engaged in “lewd and libidinous practices”—a Scottish legal term for indecent behaviour towards children—which included exposing himself to pupils in changing rooms and taking indecent photographs. One victim, now in his 40s, testified that King stripped naked in front of him before a football game, leaving him feeling “embarrassed and uncomfortable” with no means of escape.
Gerald King’s conviction was part of a wider exposure of historic abuse linked to the Celtic Boys’ Club. His sentencing followed the high-profile convictions of the club’s founder, Jim Torbett, and former manager Frank Cairney. The court heard that King also took photographs of children in showers. However, he claimed these were “innocent” and intended for a school magazine; he was found guilty of taking indecent pictures in February 1987.
Despite the “serious nature” of the offences and the “breach of trust” highlighted by Sheriff Johanna Johnston QC, Gerald King was handed a three-year probation order rather than a custodial sentence. The Sheriff noted that while the charges were grave, the jury had made “significant deletions” to the original indictment during the trial.
Under the terms of his sentence, Gerald King must be supervised by social work for three years and complete 240 hours of unpaid work in the community. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for a period of five years.
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