Ex-Chelsea Footballer Gary Johnson Says Club Paid 50K to Keep Sex-Abuse Secret

Former Chelsea player Gary Johnson has alleged that the Premier League club paid him £50,000 to keep quiet about alleged sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of former chief scout Eddie Heath in the 1970s.  

Per Jeremy Armstrong in the Mirror, Johnson said he approached the club on the issue after his attempts to tell the police failed and he was ignored by the Professional Footballers’ Association, but the Blues did not accept any blame and paid him to not go public.

The 57-year-old was a part of Chelsea’s senior team between 1978 and 1981 and alleged that he suffered abuse by Heath, who is now dead, from 1973 around two or three times a week until he was 16 or 17, which led to “turmoil.”

He claimed that he may not have been the only one who suffered at the hands of Heath and explained why he thought Chelsea paid him off, per Armstrong: 

I think that they were paying me to keep a lid on this. Millions of fans around the world watch Chelsea. They are one of the biggest and richest clubs in the world. All their fans deserve to know the truth about what went on. I know they asked me to sign a gagging order and how many others are there out …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com