Premier League club executive accused of rape facing further abuse claims
A Premier League club executive questioned under caution over a historical allegation of rape is facing two further abuse claims, according to the BBC.
The established name was interviewed at a London police station in June after officers received a crime report almost two years ago relating to a woman who has alleged he raped her when she was 15.
The executive voluntarily attended a police station to deny the claims that are unrelated to his football role and was not arrested.
The BBC has now reported that he was previously investigated in 2021 over an allegation that he sexually abused a different 15-year-old in the 1990s but no further action was taken because of legislation that stated if an offence of “unlawful sexual intercourse” took place between 1956 and 2004, and the alleged victim was a girl aged 13 to 15, she had to make a complaint within a year.
The corporation said police were also investigating claims by a third woman that the man locked her in a room as he attempted to coerce her into sexual activity.
The incident was alleged to have taken place in the late 1990s during a job interview when she was in her early 20s.
The woman whose complaint saw the executive questioned by police this summer told the BBC she reported her alleged rape in the early 1990s but said she had been “terrified” and had only wanted to proceed if other women came forward.
She said she went back to the police two years ago after seeing victims of high-powered men being taken seriously following the MeToo movement.
She also said she contacted the Football Association and Premier League in July about her allegations.
“I really started to worry about young girls at the academies and women employees and players that might not know,” she said.
The BBC said it took the Premier League more than two months to acknowledge her report to its safeguarding email address, claiming the email had been lost in its inbox.
The FA was said to have told her she would not be informed of whether any action was being taken against the executive as it did “not ordinarily comment publicly about individual safeguarding cases”.
Regarding its safeguarding policies, the FA said they were “regularly reviewed by the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit”.
