By Sarah McPhee
Warning: Graphic content
One of Sydney swimming coach Dick Caine’s victims was just 10 when she was first sexually abused by the man her parents had considered the “ants pants”.
More than four decades later, when news of Caine’s arrest broke in 2022, the woman cried as she told her husband: “He got me when I was young.”
Richard “Dick” Caine pictured in 1987.Credit: Andrew Rankin/Fairfax Media
Caine’s identity was covered by a non-publication order as six complainants gave evidence during his judge-alone special hearing from June to August in Downing Centre District Court. That veil of secrecy was lifted last week after Judge Paul McGuire found, on the limited evidence available, Caine had committed 39 offences of child sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s.
Caine, 78, was deemed unfit to face a traditional trial due to health reasons. His lawyers in 2022 said he had terminal cancer, that he would probably not make Christmas 2023, and now claim he is in palliative care.
His victims are outraged Caine did not front up to a single day of proceedings and is not in custody. This is what they told Caine’s hearing, according to the judge’s 132-page summary of evidence published after the verdicts.
Dick Caine was the long-running head coach at the Carss Park swimming pool in Sydney’s south.Credit: Chris Lane
Victim 1
Caine’s youngest victim, who was aged 10 to 14 when she was molested, had been a record-breaking junior athlete with Olympic aspirations.
After being sexually assaulted during a massage, she was left “crying inside her goggles”. Following a rape inside the pool toilets, she said Caine told her, “Don’t tell anybody, we have something special”.
Her evidence was that “at that time, children were seen but not heard and were expected to respect adults”.
When she told her mother Caine had been “touching her”, her mother “accused her of lying and making up ‘terrible lies’ for attention”, the judge said. “Her mother then washed her mouth out with soap [and] told her that she was not to tell her father because he would also think that she was lying.”
Her description of the soap incident was graphic and believable, the judge found.
“That day killed me,” the woman told the court.
She said Caine had been considered “God”. At a hall of fame induction, she confronted him and said: “Do you know why you haven’t died yet, Dick? Because the devil is not ready for you yet.”
Dick Caine coached swimmers for decades at Carss Park pool, pictured here in 2021 after its closure.Credit: Wolter Peeters
“I could have been something, and he took that away from me,” she said.
Victim 2
The second victim was sexually assaulted by Caine in his Kogarah unit and at a hotel near Parramatta Road.
She said during the first incident, he cuddled her on the bed before forcing himself on her. She said she had been a virgin at the time and had “not even kissed a boy”.
The court heard Caine gave the teenage swimmer a heart pendant on a gold chain, and a handwritten note, reading “Merry Xmas, love Dick Caine”.
A judge found Caine committed 39 counts of child sexual abuse across the 1970s and 1980s.Credit: Jack Vincent Picone/Fairfax Media
The victim recalled Caine told her “there was nothing she could do because she was 16”, and those words “have been replaying in her mind over the years”.
One man testified he was kicked off the squad after questioning Caine’s relationship with the girl.
Victim 3
Caine’s third victim approached police after reading an article about him being charged, which she said “sort of justified how I felt from when I was a child”.
The woman said one morning at training when she was 13, Caine told her, “You seem very cold. I’ll warm you up”, and then rubbed his hands on her arms, over her breasts and down her body.
She gave evidence that she felt uncomfortable and froze, and “was not sure what to think but knew that it did not feel right”.
Victim 4
The fourth complainant said her parents treated Caine “like a hero” and had also considered children “should be seen and not heard”.
She said she had just turned 14 when Caine offered to give her a “rub down” at swimming, and locked the gym doors before he indecently touched her, including digital penetration. The woman said Caine took off his pants and told her to go into the sauna before he masturbated.
The woman said Caine had later called her home phone and said if she shared “what happened in the gym, you’ll be in more trouble”. She said she received Christmas cards from Caine after she stopped swimming at Carss Park, which felt like intimidation.
Dick Caine (centre) leaves Bankstown police station in June 2022.Credit: Brook Mitchell
After news of Caine’s arrest, she texted a friend: “Who’s dropped the bomb about Dick Caine?” and got in contact with investigators.
Victim 5
Caine’s fifth victim gave evidence about multiple incidents of sexual and indecent assault when they were 15 and 16, including on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
The complainant said Caine had said “We have to be careful because I assume you’re not on the pill”, and that it was “just a bit of fun” between them. The victim told their mother Caine was a “bastard” but did not report the sexual conduct due to fear and because Caine was the swimming coach.
After one rape, the victim said Caine said: “Don’t tell anyone. Don’t tell your mum. She wouldn’t understand.”
The court heard Caine visited the victim in the 1990s and again tried to stress what had happened was “legal”. That complainant first provided a statement to the police in 2021.
Victim 6
The sixth victim began swimming at Carss Park when she was 12 because her parents thought it would be “helpful” for her career to be trained by Caine.
“I was scared to death of not training hard enough, not doing what he wanted,” she told the court.
The victim attended sleepovers with other students at Caine’s home, during which she said the coach massaged her and touched her breasts and genitals. She was also repeatedly digitally raped by Caine.
In a journal entry in 2009, she wrote: “Dick – I hate him.”
The judge found the victims were honest and reliable witnesses.
Caine’s penalty hearing has been listed for December.
If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (and see lifeline.org.au), the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service (1800RESPECT) on 1800 737 732, or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
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