I’m still haunted by sex abuse hell at hands of my manager, admits Pat McGlynn in Secrets of the Bay City Rollers doc | The Sun
THE Bay City Rollers stars have opened up about experiencing horrifying abuse at the hands of band manager Tam Paton in new ITV documentary, Secrets of the Bay City Rollers.
Pat McGlynn, who was signed to the band in 1976, revealed shocking details about being fed drugs and sexually abused in the home Paton bought to share with the band.
The Bay City Rollers, made up of young boys from Edinburgh, are still among the best-selling pop acts ever.
But behind the hits there was hidden a dark secret.
Pat, 65, is just one of the band member who have come forward to document horrifying sex abuse at the hands of Paton.
At the height of their fame, he was sexually targeted by his manager, who he accused of trying to rape him after coming forward in 2003.
read more on bay city rollers
Bay City Rollers’ manager’s sex crimes to be probed in new ITV documentary
How Les McKeown overcame being raped, a tragic accident at 19 and addiction
Now, the star has opened up about the harrowing after effects of the ordeal in ITV documentary Secrets of the Bay City Rollers.
He tells host Nicky Campbell: "At first it was a wonderland… but it wasn't living a dream because Tam had total control on us.
"It started the very first night I joined the Rollers, that night I went to his house – and he told me I'm in the Rollers now.
"That's when he gave me this pill that would make me feel better and prepare me for the big publicity date as the new Rollers.
Most read in TV
EastEnders' star James Bye and wife Victoria reveal adorable name of new son
Boy George facing bankruptcy as firm goes bust owing £1m in Culture Club row
Emmerdale legend teases huge comeback two years after soap exit
Gavin & Stacey’s Neil The Baby is unrecognisable in The Voice Kids
"I took that and then sort of just crashed out on his couch, woken up an hour or two later and he was on top of me, molesting me."
When quizzed by Nicky on whether he was raped by Paton, Pat adds: "I'm afraid I was, yes.
"When I woke up, he gave me a set of Bay City Rollers clothes – I was still groggy and I was out for pictures and interviews.
"For him, it was no big deal, it was just a bit of fun. I didn't really know what happened to me to be honest. I couldn't get my head around it.
"It happened in Australia, he did it there as well the same thing.
"Two or three months in the Rollers , he turned me into a drug addict basically – amphetamine and cocaine.
"I didn't want to sleep in case I woke up Tam Paton on top of me.
"He messed me up, I'm still messed up by it. I'm still recovering from it. I still have days when I get really depressed by I soldier on."
Pat was edged out of the band just seven months in the band, and when he finally reported the incident – police said there was "insufficient evidence" to support his claim.
Pat concludes of the manager, who died in 2009: "He was a monster.
"Back in the 70s, there were people who had the right to do what they wanted with you."
'Jimmy Saville was at party with young boys'
Pat isn't the only Bay City Rollers star who says was abused by Paton.
Gert Magnus, who was just a teen when he was signed to the Rollers from a Dutch band, reveals he was asked to "have sex" with him.
Gert was taken to Paton's home, Little Kellerstain, outside Edinburgh – where there would be "wild parties" filled with "young boys".
"We played support for the Bay City Rollers and after the concert, Tam said to me 'I want you to become a Bay City Roller'," he says.
"It lived in the same house [as him] and he would buy things for me, a trampoline and a bin ball machine. It was like this for two years.
"One day we came to London, the two of us, and that day he said could he come with me to the room."
Asked whether Paton "wanted to have sex", Gert continues: "Yes. I said, 'No way'. He really got angry and he said: 'You are nothing and I've done everything for you'. I was very frightened."
He adds: "There were always parties, lots of young boys and lots of producers and famous people going into rooms and coming out. Jimmy Saville [was there].
"I thought [it was a horrible] but I was so young but I thought it was normal in this business here."
'Screaming in his sleep'
For one of the Bay City Rollers stars, the abuse led him to a lifetime of alcohol binges that would see him "scream in his sleep" – and end in a tragic early death.
Les McKeown, the lead singer of the band – who passed away in 2021 at the age of 65 – first opened up about the abuse in 2009.
He finally told his family that he had been raped by Paton at the age of 19, in a documentary titled 'Rehab'.
His widow Peko reveals: "He never had told me [about the abuse] but he was suffering – he was screaming in the night. He would cry a lot.
"He said to me, I hate Tam Paton. I think [he raped him]."
His son Jubei adds; "My dad was a broken man, he never found peace in his life, he never found peace and that hurts."
In 1982 Paton was convicted of gross indecency with two teenage boys at a time when the legal age of consent for gay male sex was 21.
Read More On The Sun
Titanic actor known for iconic scene in hit film dies after health battle
Michelle Keegan looks stunning in £200 dress in Ibiza with Mark Wright
He was released after serving one year of a three-year jail sentence – and was not convicted of any crimes against the Bay City Rollers.
The Secrets of the Bay City Rollers airs tomorrow at 9pm on ITV.
Source: Read Full Article