A Highland League stalwart has appeared in court accused of a series of historic sex crimes committed over more than 20 years.
John Henderson was a long-standing member of the Forres Mechanics committee from the 1970s into the 1990s.
Yesterday, the 77-year-old appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court facing six charges, some in connection to alleged incidents that happened at the club’s ground Mosset Park and its social club.
Henderson pleaded not guilty to all of the accusations when he appeared in the dock.
The Forres resident is accused of indecently assaulting a teenager on various occasions at Mosset Park as well as Lea Road and Grant Park in the town.
It is alleged that he touched the teenager inappropriately over his clothing and on one occasion tried to pull down his trousers.
The second charge relates to an alleged breach of the peace at Inverness Thistle’s Kingsmills Park stadium. He is accused of staring at a naked teenager while they showered.
It is further alleged that Henderson, of Bogton Road in Forres, indecently assaulted a third teenager on various occasions at a hotel in Forres by touching him inappropriately over his clothing.
The former Forres Mechanics secretary is also charged with committing a breach of the peace at the club’s stadium by inducing a teen to enter a room before blocking his exit and making sexual remarks towards him.
He allegedly carried out those four offences in the late 1970s to mid 1980s.
Henderson is further accused of breaching the peace at Forres Mechanic’s social club at Mosset Park by staring at a teenager before following him into the toilets on an occasion between the late 1980s and mid 1990s.
He also allegedly inappropriately touched a male in the toilets of a pub in Forres in 2001.
After entering a not guilty plea, Henderson’s defence solicitor Stephen Carty told the court issues with the identification parade carried out by police needed to be addressed before any trial can go ahead.
A debate to discuss the issue was scheduled for August 6.