A STIRLING Albion youth development coach has appeared in court accused of sending four boys sexual messages.
The case came before Falkirk Sheriff Court the day after it emerged that the club chiarman Stuart Brown (below) had been after the Scottish League Two club's owners claimed they were not told about the allegations against 21-year-old Alexander Robertson which they said emerged in 2016.
Robertson denies sending online messages to three boys, aged 13 to 15, "for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification or of humiliating, distressing, or alarming" them. He also denies inducing a fourth boy, aged between 11 and 14, to send pictures of himself "in a state of undress".
It is alleged the messages were sent between August 2013 and February 2017.
The Stirling Albion Supporters’ Trust (SAST), the club owners, said on Tuesday they were only made aware of the allegations and subsequent police investigation a matter of days ago.
It is understood that as a result the trust were not even 100 per cent sure of the identity of the coach and the extent of the allegations which were describe as "a number of sexual offences" by the Judiciary of Scotland SAST launched an independent inquiry into the "chronology of events to determine why it was not promptly informed" while Mr Brown remains suspended.
Robertson has pleaded not guilty to five charges at Falkirk Sheriff Court under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act. The offences are alleged to have taken place in Bridge of Allan, and other locations in Scotland.
He is due to return to the court on April 24.
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