Geelong Cats great Gary Ablett Snr probed over historical sex assault allegations
AFL legend Gary Ablett Snr has been questioned by police over historical sex assault allegations — two years after the complaint was first made.
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Police have questioned AFL legend Gary Ablett Snr over historical sex assault allegations.
The star goal kicker and Geelong Cats champion was questioned on March 25 — almost two years after police started the investigation.
Sex crime detectives released Ablett without charge, pending further investigation.
The Herald Sun revealed in November 2017 that his accuser complained to police about an incident while the pair were in a car outside a house in country Victoria.
The alleged victim has given at least two statements to police about the incident in the 1970s, including a graphic description of the alleged assault. The woman, now aged 57, has expressed frustration at the pace of the investigation.
The mother-of-four recently said she feared Ablett would not be charged because of his football reputation.
In a statement to the Herald Sun, Victoria Police said: “Central Gippsland Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team detectives interviewed a 57-year-old Grovedale man on 25 March 2019 in relation to an allegation of a historical sexual assault. The man was released pending further investigation. As the matter is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
The Herald Sun is not suggesting that Ablett is guilty, only that police are investigating allegations.
The alleged victim has told psychologists her “life completely changed when this happened”. She said she needed to come forward and end her four decades of silence to help her move on.
“Every time I see him, I lose the plot,” she has said. “It has come to a head and I have had enough.”
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Ablett’s post-AFL days have been dogged by controversy — most notably for his role in the death of Alisha Horan, 20, of a brain injury caused by a drug overdose from a lethal mix of heroin, ecstasy and amphetamines after a five-day drug and alcohol binge with Ablett.
He was convicted and fined $1500 in 2002 after he admitted to drug charges relating to the death of Ms Horan, who was a fan of his. A coroner blasted Ablett for not getting help in time, and believed her life could have been saved.
In 1990, he was placed on a $10,000 good behaviour bond for repeatedly hitting a man he found sitting in a car with his estranged wife.
Ablett could not be reached for comment.