Women tell court Barry Cable sexually assaulted them as children in Melbourne backyard spas
Barry Cable arrives at the Perth District Court on the second day of his child sex abuse trial. (ABC News: David Weber)
In short:
The sexual abuse trial of Barry Cable has heard testimony from two women who say he assaulted them in backyard spas in Melbourne in the 1980s.
Mr Cable, now 82, is on trial accused of sexually abusing a young girl under the age of 13 in Perth in the late 1960s.
One of the women who gave evidence on Wednesday said Mr Cable was known as a "famous footballer" but was also a family friend.
Former footballer Barry Cable fondled children and sexually assaulted them in backyard spas in Melbourne in the 1980s at a time when he was a "famous" figure in the Victorian Football League, a court has heard.
WARNING: This story contains details about alleged sexual assault some readers may find distressing.
Four women have now given evidence at the trial of Mr Cable, now 82, who is accused of sexually abusing a young girl under the age of 13 in Perth in the late 1960s.
Mr Cable was considered a champion footballer, winning two VFL premierships with North Melbourne and was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, until his hall of fame membership was revoked in 2023.
In court on Wednesday, the second day of his criminal trial, one woman testified Mr Cable tried to penetrate her while the pair were in a spa.
The girl says she was about nine years old at the time, and recalled being in disbelief at what she said Mr Cable was doing to her.
She said Mr Cable was a friend of the family, and she and other children would use his spa in Melbourne.
She told the court he was the only adult who would get in with them and he would say "come on girls, give us a cuddle".
Mr Cable has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges he is facing. (ABC News: David Weber)
She said he touched her breasts and tried to put his penis inside of her, saying it happened on more than six occasions.
"Every time we went in the spa it would happen," she told the court.
The woman testified that they would tell Mr Cable to stop it, and he would "just laugh".
The spa at Barry Cable's former home in Melbourne. (Supplied: District Court of WA)
When asked why she didn't report it at the time she said it would have been useless as "no one would have believed us".
She said she eventually came forward because she heard that others had, and it was the "right thing to do".
"Enough is enough," she told the court.
Cable 'like an uncle'
Earlier on Wednesday, another woman who testified via video-link said she was in a backyard spa with Mr Cable and other children in Melbourne when she was 11 or 12.
She told the court Mr Cable fondled her breasts as she sat on his lap, and she could feel his penis on her body.
The woman said it made her feel uncomfortable and she only told her friend — the other woman who gave evidence — about it when they were still children.
She told the court she spoke to police in 2023 after giving evidence at a civil trial involving Mr Cable, involving a different complainant.
Under cross examination by defence counsel Tom Percy, the woman conceded she could not be sure Mr Cable had an erection at the time, as she had told police earlier.
"Possibly I used the wrong terminology," she said.
She said her own bathers had been pulled to one side and it "felt like skin to skin".
Barry Cable won two VFL premierships as a player with North Melbourne in the 1970s. (Supplied: Sport Australia Hall of Fame)
The woman said while Mr Cable was known as a "famous footballer", he was also a family friend, "like an uncle".
She said her dad was "excited" about Mr Cable's career.
The trial continues.