Australian footballer Barry Cable on trial for alleged sexual abuse of girl in 1960s

Ex-Australian football Hall of Famer Barry Cable picked up a girl from an orphanage in Perth and sexually abused her multiple times, a court has been told.

WARNING: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing.

The alleged victim, who was aged under 13 at the time, told the District Court the abuse happened in Mr Cable's home in Perth in the 1960s and said: "He told me that he loved me and that's how we showed each other love."

The woman, who is now in her 60s, claimed he touched her genitals, tried to have sex with her, and made her touch him and perform oral sex.

She testified Mr Cable told her that if she told anyone, "they wouldn't believe me because he was Barry Cable".

But Mr Cable's lawyer said the allegations were "completely denied" and the former footballer's wife would give evidence and say the alleged victim never stayed at their home.

'Dark side' behind football career

On the opening day of the trial, lawyer Tom Percy suggested there was a financial motive as the complaint emerged at the time of a 2023 civil case that found Mr Cable sexually abused a different victim, who was awarded more than $800,000.

Mr Cable, 82, is facing a judge-alone trial, charged with seven offences involving a girl under 13.

The offences allegedly happened between December 1966 and December 1969 at times when the woman said she stayed at the Cable family home as a young girl.

The girl's age ranged between 8 to 11 during that period.

Prosecutor Kim Jennings told the court Mr Cable had an "illustrious career" playing hundreds of games in Victorian and WA football leagues, but behind that spotlight was a "dark side".

Ms Jennings said, along with the alleged victim, the court would hear from three other females who would say Mr Cable offended against them.

Abuse started while wife slept

The alleged victim, who testified via video link, described to the court in graphic detail what she alleged Mr Cable did to her — which the ABC has chosen not to publish.

She claimed Mr Cable and his wife had picked her up from an orphanage and taken her to their home.

The woman said Barry Cable "treated me good" but things changed when "he started touching my body, just fondling me".

She told the court she wore dresses with no underwear when she was with him after Mr Cable told her "they don't wear underwear in the house".

The woman testified that Mr Cable would come into her room when his wife, Helen, was asleep.

She said "he tried to put his penis inside me" but walked out of the room "because he couldn't get it in", telling her she was "useless".

Other instances happened in the lounge room, she told the court.

Lawyer cross-examination

Mr Cable's lawyer, Tom Percy, said an analysis of the facts would show there was "no opportunity for these matters to have occurred".

He said the alleged victim said Mr Cable's house in Gosnells, in Perth's south-east, was "big" and "fancy", when it was not — and also claimed she misidentified the suburb.

Mr Percy also said the records of the orphanage where she stayed showed she was not absent for the "best part of a month".

He told the court Helen Cable would testify that the girl never came to visit their home.

The woman denied an assertion by Mr Cable's lawyer that she only told police about the abuse in 2023 because she had heard about a civil case and "wanted to cash in".

She agreed she had initially told police she thought the house was in Scarborough, but also said she thought it was in Thornlie.

The alleged victim was shown a photo of the Cable home in court, and she agreed it was not "flash".

Mr Percy quizzed her on claims she had made about other men abusing her, suggesting she found it "easy to make up allegations of sexual assault".

She denied this.

When asked by the prosecutor why she did not tell anyone at the time, she said Mr Cable told her that if she told anyone, "they wouldn't believe me because he was Barry Cable".

She also told the court she contacted WA Police in 2023 because she had seen him on TV from when he was playing football and it brought everything back.

Second witness speaks

The woman who brought the civil case against Mr Cable was the second witness in the criminal trial, telling the court of incidents when she said she was abused.

Her claims are not the subject of any criminal charges before the court.

Giving evidence in the courtroom in person, she said they would go in his car to get fish and chips, and on the way home, Mr Cable would park on Girrawheen Drive.

She told the court he would take his shorts off and touch her indecently. 

On another occasion, she said Mr Cable lay her down and got on top of her, saying "it will feel good" and "we’re not hurting anyone".

The woman became emotional when she described an incident in which she said Mr Cable struck her.

She told the court they were driving along the railway line and she asked him why he didn't "stick" with "grown-up women".

'White with fury'

He smacked her to the face, she told the court, before dropping her home and driving away.

"He was just white with fury," she told the court through tears.

Mr Percy asked her if she had a problem "distinguishing fantasy from reality".

"I don't believe I have a problem," she responded.

Mr Percy asked her if she had a memory of what she claimed had happened to her when she went to police in 1998, and she said: "I absolutely remembered."

She conceded she had continued to see Mr Cable as an adult, despite what she said he had done to her.

"He did abuse me," she said.

Mr Cable was considered a champion footballer, winning three WAFL premierships with Perth in the 1960s.

He was captain-coach of the East Perth team that won the premiership in 1978.

He also won three Sandover Medals for being the WAFL's best and fairest player.

After moving to Victoria in the 1970s, he won two VFL premierships with North Melbourne, in 1975 and 1977, and returned to coach the side in the 1980s.