Ex-Chelsea star Gary Johnson claims club paid him £50k to keep quiet about sex abuse by ex-scout Eddie Heath
Gary Johnson, who played for the senior team from 1978 to 1981, said he was sexually assaulted hundreds of times
A FORMER Chelsea star claims the club paid £50,000 to gag him after he came forward with allegations of sexual abuse.
Gary Johnson, who played for the senior team from 1978 to 1981, said he was sexually assaulted hundreds of times by scout Eddie Heath while in the youth side.
The ex-forward said the chief scout - who died from a heart attack in the 1980s - first groomed him at the age of 13 and continued to do so two or three times a week until he was 16 or 17.
, Johnson, 57, said he was waiving his right to anonymity to encourage other victims to come forward.
After a bad day at school and an argument with his father, Johnson confided in Heath and asked to stay at the scout's house in Leytonstone at night.
Heath gave the youngster Coke and sweets, before putting on a pornographic film and telling the teenager: "This will make you feel better."
Shortly afterwards, he performed a sex act on Johnson.
The abuse eventually moved to them bed, where the scout professed his love for the youngster.
He claims to know at least three other boys who were abused by Heath, who made them engage in threesomes.
He said: "I saw Paul Stewart in The Mirror and realised I was the prequel to his story.
"After 40 years suffering in silence I wonder how many more victims are out there.
"I hope this helps more victims to come forward.
"I was so young and naive, I had trouble coping with the feelings, I was just a kid."
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He finally approached the police after the fallout of Operation Yewtree in 2014.
He said officers advised him to "go back to Chelsea", where the club asked him to "prove it."
Settlement agreements dated July 16, 2015, show the club paid Johnson £50,000.
The club now faces the prospect of fines from the Football Association.
FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn said Chelsea or any other club found guilty of hiding allegations would be punished.
The NSPCC said it made 60 referrals to police or children's services in the first three days of a new helpline for football abuse victims - three times as many as the children's charity made in the same period at the start of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
After 40 years suffering in silence I wonder how many more victims are out there
Speaking for the first time since being named England manager, Gareth Southgate said: "I played with one of the players who has recently come forward ... the situation we have now in terms of child protection is completely different, but we mustn't be complacent and think that we have got everything right."
FA chairman Greg Clarke has described the current situation as "the biggest crisis" he can remember in the game.