‘It’s pretty troubling to hear’: Peter Gordon gives evidence in Adam Kneale case

Ex-Bulldogs president Peter Gordon has told a court a club staffer “should have passed on” police information about a pedophile who preyed on children at Whitten Oval.

Child sexual abuse survivor Adam Kneale is suing Footscray Football Club. Picture: David Crosling

Ex-Bulldogs president Peter Gordon has agreed the club failed to appropriately respond when police told a staffer in 1993 that a pedophile preyed on children at Whitten Oval.

The high profile lawyer took the stand in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, where his relative Adam Kneale is suing Footscray Football Club for vicarious liability after he was the victim of a years-long campaign of child sexual abuse by volunteer Graeme Hobbs in the 1980s.

The club, now the Western Bulldogs, denies the claim.

Mr Gordon – while standing in the witness box – said he’d never before heard that police visited the former Western Oval in 1993 to inform a staffer of Hobbs’ arrest for pedophilia committed at the club.

Peter Gordon took the stand in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Picture: Aaron Francis

Inspector Damien Christiansen, formerly a constable, earlier gave evidence that he’d taken a statement in February 1993 from Stephen Smith – the club’s then-financial officer – and told him police believed there were further victims at the club and hoped Footscray FC could be an “avenue” in finding them and other witnesses.

It came 10-days after a police interview with Hobbs where he “openly shared … that he had abused quite a substantial number” of children he met at Footscray FC, and had boxes of photos of children in sexually explicit poses, wearing football and school uniforms.

Mr Gordon, who was then the club’s president, said if that was what Mr Smith was told, he “should have passed it on”.

Barrister Sam Hay KC, for Mr Kneale, asked if Mr Gordon agreed whether Mr Smith’s failure to pass the information to the board so it could take action “was a failing on behalf of the club?”

“Insofar that the club is vicariously liable for the actions of Mr Smith, then yes,” Mr Gordon replied.

He said if police contact like that had happened, “I would have expected it to be reported”.

“It’s pretty troubling to hear,” he said.

Mr Gordon said he’d never met Mr Kneale and hadn’t heard of him until last year due to a rift in the family “well before” he was born.

He said he first learned of his cousin’s son and the abuse committed by Hobbs at the club when the ABC was preparing to publish a story in May 2022.

That’s despite a front page article in the local Western Times newspaper in 1994 about how the pedophile had been jailed after he pleaded guilty to abusing Mr Kneale at Whitten Oval.

Mr Gordon said he received a call from Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains in late April 2022, who said journalist Russell Jackson had asked questions about his cousin’s son suffering “horrific sexual abuse at Western Oval”.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mr Gordon said he replied to Mr Bains.

He later emailed Mr Jackson that he knew “nothing of Graeme Hobbs or the nature of his relationship with the club”, and offered to meet Mr Kneale in person – an offer that was refused.

Mr Gordon was the final witness to be called in the civil trial, which has been running for two weeks.

Other witnesses called by Footscray FC included Mr Bains, lawyer and AFL NSW chairman Hayden Stevens, former CEO and lawyer Dennis Galimberti and ex-player Steven Kolyniuk.

Closing arguments in the trial before Justice Melinda Richards are expected to be heard on Thursday.