Historic sex charges against AFL Hall of Fame legend Carl Ditterich dropped

Historic sexual assault charges against former AFL Hall of Fame star Carl Ditterich have been dropped, with prosecutors not proceeding with the case due to a lack of evidence.

Historic sex charges against AFL Hall of Famer Carl Ditterich have been dropped. Picture: Aaron Francis

Historic sexual assault charges against former AFL Hall of Fame star Carl Ditterich have been dropped.

Ditterich, 79, was due to stand trial in the County Court this year over nearly 40-year-old sexual assault allegations brought by a woman who accused him of the abusing her as a teenager in the 1980s.

However the Office of Public Prosecutions has now dropped the charges due to evidence limitations.

“We confirm that the case against Mr Ditterich will not proceed,” an OPP spokesperson said.

“Decisions about whether to discontinue a prosecution are never made lightly and after careful consideration of the evidence it was determined that there are not reasonable prospects of conviction.”

The former St Kilda and Melbourne footballer was last year charged with three counts of indecent assault of a child under 16 and one count of gross indecency in the presence of a child under 16.

The charges related to allegations he sexually assaulted a then-15-year-old girl in a parked car in a parking lot in Moorabbin in 1985, five years after his AFL retirement.

Ditterich pleaded not guilty to the charges in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last October during which time his accuser explained she’d stayed silent for nearly 40 years with the belief “nobody would believe her”.

Magistrate Stephen Ballek ruled her to be an “honest and truthful witness” throughout the committal hearing.

Ditterich played 285 games for St Kilda and Melbourne in the then-VFL during the 1960s and 1970s.

He was inducted into the St Kilda Hall of Fame in 2003 and into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2004.

It’s understood he is in poor health, living on the NSW side of the Murray River.