Police identify 10 suspects in English youth soccer sex abuse scandal, where 350 victims have come forward

David White (R) and Paul Stewart (L) came forward with sexual abuse allegations.

MANCHESTER, England — Ten suspects have been identified by one of the 17 police forces investigating a sex-abuse scandal in youth soccer that is engulfing the British game.

Greater Manchester Police said on Thursday it was following up reports from 35 people, and its inquiry was growing “on a daily basis.”

Since former professional players went public over the last two weeks about the ordeals they went through as youngsters, around 350 people across the country have reported cases of child sexual abuse in soccer clubs, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said.

A hotline set up by a children’s charity in response to sex-abuse claims has taken more than 860 calls in its first week.

The English Football Association is funding the hotline and has started an internal review to re-examine its response to convictions of soccer coaches in the 1990s.

That includes investigating whether clubs paid off victims of sexual abuse in return for their silence.

FA chief executive Martin Glenn said action will be taken against any club found guilty of “hushing up” victims of a growing scandal in British soccer.  (more...)

Police identify 10 suspects in English youth soccer sex abuse scandal, where 350 victims have come forward

Background:

Sex abuse victims are all over country as scandal grows with four police forces investigate claims