Barry Cable Faces Multiple Child Sex Abuse Allegations in Perth Trial
Disgraced Australian rules football legend Barry Cable has been accused of fondling two young girls in a backyard spa and exposing himself in front of other children, according to testimony presented in a Perth court. The 82-year-old former player is currently fighting a series of historical child sexual abuse charges in a criminal trial at the WA District Court.
Allegations from the 1960s and 1980s
The trial centers on accusations that Cable abused a girl aged about eight in the late 1960s while she was staying with him and his wife Helen for approximately a month. The alleged abuse involved intimate physical contact and attempted penetrative sex on multiple occasions when his wife was asleep.
In a separate incident, another woman testified on Wednesday that Cable touched her breasts and pulled his erect penis from his bathers in a spa in Melbourne in the early 1980s when she was about 10 years old. She described how Cable would often say, 'oh, come on girls, give me a cuddle,' and later became more confident, pulling her bathers aside.
Detailed Testimonies and Defence Challenges
The woman further alleged that Cable put her on his knee and tried to penetrate her with his penis, with the incidents reportedly involving another child. She stated, 'Every time we were in the spa, it would happen. We would say... 'Barry, stop it' and he would laugh.'
Defence lawyer Tom Percy KC accused the woman of fabricating the allegations, suggesting financial motives, but she forcefully denied this, replying, 'It certainly did ... who would want to go through this?' A childhood friend of the woman also testified, recalling an incident at a spa when she was about 12, where Cable allegedly fondled her breasts and exposed himself.
Broader Context and Previous Civil Trial
The complainant in the criminal trial claims the abuse continued on a near-daily basis during her childhood stay at Cable's home. Cable has denied five counts of indecent dealing with a girl under 13 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge from 1966 to 1969.
Mr Percy suggested the accusations were made up after a 2023 civil trial found similar allegations to be substantially true, resulting in $818,700 in damages awarded to another woman abused over five years from 1968. The judge in that case noted compelling evidence of Cable violating other children, which he denied.
Cable's Football Career and Ongoing Trial
Barry Cable had an illustrious playing career in the 1960s and 1970s, featuring in 379 matches across the Western Australian Football League and Victorian Football League for teams like Perth, East Perth, and North Melbourne, later coaching in both leagues. The criminal trial continues as the court examines these serious historical allegations.
