Carl Ditterich committal hearing adjourned as diary evidence is labelled a ‘sordid account reading like a Dolly Magazine not reality’
“Uncorroborated accusations forgotten for 38 years” by defence lawyers for AFL legend Carl Ditterich as they try to get the case thrown out.
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Allegations against AFL legend Carl Ditterich have been slammed as “defective” as a four day committal hearing comes to a close.
Ditterich fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for the final day of evidence and submissions in a committal hearing, after he was charged with historic child sex offences in June.
The 78-year-old former St Kilda and Melbourne Football Club player is facing three counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency in the presence of a child under 16.
Police have alleged Ditterich assaulted a girl in Moorabbin in Melbourne’s southeast in August 1985.
Ditterich’s lawyer Ruth Shann systematically attacked each charge alleged by Victoria Police, concluding the case was “defective” and would leave a jury “unable to convict him beyond reasonable doubt”.
“There is no way for the prosecution to prove whether the diary they rely upon is fact or fiction,” Ms Shann said.
“In Mr Ditterich’s record of interview, he said didn’t really remember the complainant but thought her at least 16 or 17 years old.
“In 1985, the age of consent was 16.”
Ms Shann said the allegations were “uncorroborated accusations forgotten for 38 years”.
“The diary details a sordid account of a sexual encounter agreed to and desired by the complainant,” she said.
“It’s only her account 38 years later that she says she didn’t consent.
“The diary reads more like someone who has read Dolly Magazine than being centred in reality.”
Police prosecutor Jack Kelly disagreed, saying the diary was “of sufficient weight”.
“The diary entry has been cross-examined with the alleged victim,” he said.
“The assertions in the diary need to be read together for the context of the alleged incident – Mr Ditterich’s denials in his record of interview could be deemed by the court as lies.
“He can’t both claim he thought she was 16 and consenting but also deny the allegations.”
Magistrate Stephen Ballek has adjourned the matter to decide if the case has enough evidence to go before a jury.
Alleged victim’s friendship with police put under microscope
The woman accusing the AFL champion of sexually assaulting her when she was a child has recanted part of her initial statement as a police informant was questioned over his “friendship” with the complainant.
On September 24, the court again heard excerpts of the alleged victim’s diary and statement, initially read in closed court last week where she had said the alleged assault occurred in Ditterich’s car while she was “in her school dress”, were not true.
The school dress detail was later recanted, with the alleged victim saying “it was during school holidays, but I was definitely in a dress”, the court was told.
The professional nature of the relationship between investigating officers and the alleged victim was also probed, after she labelled herself as the informant’s “favourite victim” in an email chain.
The court heard the informant had updated the woman on the progress of their investigation, where she replied “don’t forget about your favourite victim, me”.
In another excerpt read to the court from the woman’s diary, the girl wrote Ditterich had “asked to make love” with her, as well as naming his car as the location of their alleged sexual interaction.
Ditterich’s defence team questioned the validity of the diary, saying “it could all be a fantasy” — a claim the police informant rejected.
The defence is set to give closing submissions on Tuesday afternoon.
Complainant’s diary probed as witness says it ‘didn’t happen’
The diary of a woman who accused an AFL great of historical child sexual assault charges has been probed in court after a witness said a conversation recorded in the journal “didn’t happen”.
The hearing continued from Friday, when the alleged victim’s diary was read into evidence in a closed court.
On September 23, the court heard evidence from a man the complainant wrote to be her boyfriend, in a diary entry from the 1980s.
The man, now in his 50s, told the court he had not remembered the relationship with the alleged victim in the same way.
“There are significant things I remember from that time,” he said.
“I had a lot of girlfriends because I was very in tune with my feminine side — girls liked to talk to me.
“It wasn’t some great love affair.”
The court heard the complainant had written about a conversation she had with the witness at the time, saying “I rang (witness) last night to tell him what happened, I said he (Ditterich) made a pass at me, but not the rest”.
The witness told the court he had no recollection of having spoken to the complainant over the phone.
“I only remember talking to her in her lounge room,” he said.
“I can’t remember the exact words she used but we did talk about the incident.
“The phone call didn’t happen.”
Ditterich now lives in Moama on the NSW side of the Murray River.
He played 285 games for St Kilda and Melbourne between 1963 and 1980.
Ditterich was inducted into the St Kilda Hall of Fame in 2003 and into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2004.
Ditterich will return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on October 17 to hear Mr Ballek’s decision.
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