Former AFL champion Barry Cable ruled to have sexually abused a young girl for years

AFL Hall of Fame member Barry Cable has been ordered to pay more than $800,000 in damages after a judge ruled he sexually abused a young girl for years.

North Melbourne legend Barry Cable did sexually abuse a young girl, a judge has ruled.

Former AFL champion Barry Cable did sexually abuse a young girl for years, according to a judge.

After decades of allegations, denials, suppressions, legal threats – and nearly five years of litigation – a Western Australian judge today concluded that he believed that Cable persistently sexually abused the girl from the age of 12 into her adulthood.

District Court Judge Mark Herron found that Cable groomed and then persistently sexually abused the woman – and ordered Cable pay damages of $818,700.

And in the scathing judgment, the judge also said he also believed four other women who came forward to allege their own abuse – with one of them described as “particularly compelling”.

In a statement, the woman said she was relieved to be finally believed.

A judge ruled Cable sexually abused a young girl for years.

Cable has been ordered to pay damages of $818,700.

“Finally, the truth is confirmed by the court. And I am recognised for having told the truth for decades,” she said.

“As a child, I was unlucky enough to live next door to a paedophile, Barry Cable.

“As is the case for so many abuse survivors, it took me decades to go to the police. And as is so common, the system failed me.

“Today I no longer feel shame for the crimes committed against me.

“It’s his turn to feel the burning shame. The world now knows the real person – the paedophile, not the football star.

“And to those who knew or suspected that he was a serial paedophile, shame on you.”

Michael Magazanik from Rightside Legal, who represented the plaintiff for five years, said Cable had now been exposed for what he was – “a paedophile, a liar and a coward”.

“Cable is a child abuser,” he said.

“He’s a paedophile because that’s what the court has found, and that’s what five women he molested as children have said under oath at trial.

“He’s a liar because he lied about it for years, denying all of it.

“It was always all about him getting what he wanted. I felt like I was programmed by Barry. I was worthless, a piece of meat, an object for his pleasure. I wished I was dead.”

“And he’s a coward because he spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to stop the case. And when that failed, he declared bankruptcy to try to avoid the trial and then refused to turn up to court.”

Barry Cable during his playing days.

Magazanik said Cable should be stripped of all his honours – including the AFL Hall of Fame membership and his MBE immediately.

“If you sexually abuse children in your spare time, and molest them in a spa in your backyard while you are the coach of an AFL team, then you’re not fit for a sporting Hall of Fame or any other sort of honour,” he said.

“It’s time for everyone who has glorified Cable to face the sickening truth and act accordingly.”

And he also called on WA Police to reopen their criminal investigation into the 79-year-old – saying he would be shocked if they didn’t.

“My client first went to the police in 1998 but the DPP refused to prosecute despite two of the investigating police officers wanting to lay charges,” he said.

As first revealed in The West Australian in 2019, the girl who lived close to the Cable family had lodged a writ, claiming she had been targeted and terrorised by the former North Melbourne rover over five years of her childhood.

The woman who grew from that girl sued Cable for damages, claiming the abuse at the hands of the Sandover and Simpson medallist left her “catastrophically damaged”.

But she had first gone to WA Police in 1998 with her allegations, detailing them in a long and harrowing statement – which became the centrepiece of her evidence in the civil trial earlier this year.

The abuse is said to have occurred in Mr Cable’s car, at his home, at bush locations where he used to drive, and at the swimming pool in Thornlie where he used to work. It also alleged it occurred when he played some of the best football of his storied sporting career.

“On 2 August 1971 the defendant took the plaintiff to the Perth Football Club in Lathlain,” the claim says.

When there, Mr Cable is alleged to have kissed the girl, pushed her against the wall, attempted to rape her on a bench, and then “struck the Plaintiff across the mouth as he was driving her home afterwards.”

She would have been 16 years old.

In her evidence she described how she was often alone with the star footballer in his home, in his car and his company – and he would abuse her at every chance he got – while telling her she was his “special girl”.

“Barry used to say it was our secret and that he was my coach and we weren’t hurting anyone and that I was a very lucky girl,” she said.

“It was always all about him getting what he wanted. I felt like I was programmed by Barry. I was worthless, a piece of meat, an object for his pleasure. I wished I was dead.”

Barry Cable in 2016.

In a written defence, first filed in April 2019, Cable issued strenuous denials to virtually every allegation. He also claimed that he had had a consensual sexual relationship with the woman when she had been in her late 20s.

But, he never appeared in person during the trial, didn’t give evidence and didn’t have a lawyer representing him – after declaring personal bankruptcy on the eve of the trial.

That meant he was not present to hear the testimony of four other women who claimed they were abused by him as children.

The second said her abuse began when she was 8, while saying Cable had been “shielded” from the public for years – while in private told he was seeking solace in the church.

Another described how she was molested in a spa while Cable was the coach of North Melbourne.

And two sisters then told Cable exposed himself to them frequently when they were 10 and 11 years of age, and also fondled them in a spa.

“He was a neighbour, but he was more than that … he was regarded as a sporting icon in this state,” barrister Tim Hammond said.

“(What he did) was an abhorrent breach of trust, that had a constant and profoundly damaging impact.”

Judge Herron sat through the trial – after also lifting the strict suppression orders that had encircled the case for years, preventing Cable’s name from being published.

The footballer also tried twice to have the case thrown out, and then told the court he would not be attending. The bankruptcy declaration will also mean the damages awarded will likely never be paid.

The West Australian

Originally published as Former AFL champion Barry Cable ruled to have sexually abused a young girl for years