A Highland League stalwart has admitted indecently assaulting two teenagers.
John Henderson was secretary of Forres Mechanics FC when he attacked a youngster in a park in the Moray town on a date in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
The 77-year-old admitted the offence yesterday when he appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court.
He also admitted indecently assaulting another man, who was in his late teens, in a pub toilet in 2001.
Police were made aware of the most recent incident at the time but it was only after the first victim came forward, in 2017, that an investigation was launched.
The first assault, the court heard, took place in the town’s Grant Park after a chance encounter between Henderson and the teenager.
Fiscal Alex Swain said: “The complainer saw the accused on a bench and Henderson asked him to take a seat there.
“They started chatting about football and then the accused placed his hand on the complainer’s thigh.”
The court heard that, after a struggle in which the teenager tried to get away, Henderson indecently assaulted him.
The fiscal said the teen was left “frightened and shocked” by the incident.
Henderson, of Bogton Road, Forres, admitted a second charge of indecently assaulting a man in his late teens at Christmas time in 2001.
The victim on that occasion had noticed Henderson was wearing a Forres Mechanics tie and struck up a conversation with him about the side.
Miss Swain said that, about 30 minutes later, the accused followed him into the toilets of a pub and assaulted him.
The court heard the victim reported the matter to the police at the time and Henderson was cautioned and detained for interviews in early 2002.
But Miss Swain said it was only after the first victim reported his ordeal at the hands of Henderson in 2017 – at a time when historic sexual offences were becoming a growing concern across the UK – that an inquiry into Henderson’s predatory conduct was launched.
The pensioner was arrested in May.
He previously faced other charges relating to alleged incidents in Inverness and Forres in the 1970s and 1980s but not guilty pleas were accepted.
Solicitor Duncan Henderson, representing Henderson, said he “did not have any comments to make at this stage”.
But the lawyer did make reference to a medical condition his client has before asking that he be granted bail.
Henderson will return to the court to be sentenced at the end of next month.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov ordered that psychological reports be prepared before then.
