Two more women have told a trial that Australian rules football legend Barry Cable sexually abused them when they were children.

February 15, 2023

Two more women have accused legendary Australian rules footballer Barry Cable of sexually abusing them when they were children.

The women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told a Perth civil trial the now 79-year-old repeatedly sexually assaulted them in a spa in the 1980s.

“He would always say come and give me a cuddle and grab me and put me in like a lock,” one of the women told the Western Australian District Court on Wednesday.

The woman, who was about 10 years old at that time, said the triple Sandover Medal winner then pulled her bathers to the side and penetrated her.

“It was extremely painful … I was only very little,” she said.

She said the father of two boys also touched her breasts during a series of similar assaults over about three years.

“It happened quickly but it happened often, she said.

The woman also accused the former North Melbourne player and coach of repeatedly exposing his penis to her.

She said the alleged incidents often took place in the presence of other children, including Cable’s sons.

“He was a really nice person and he really liked us, but then he had this other side to him,” she said.

The woman said she did not report the incidents to her parents or police because: “Everyone loved Barry”.

“Honestly I didn’t think we would be believed,” she said.

“He was a very well known person at the time. He was the coach of North Melbourne and we were only young girls.

“Who would we tell? My parents would not have believed it.”

The other woman also alleged that Cable, who was not present in court, assaulted her in the same way in the spa when she was about 12.

“I made it my business not to be in the spa with him,” she said.

She also accused Cable of inappropriately touching her in a car on several occasions before the footballer appeared as a guest on the Wide World of Sports television program.

The woman also said Cable exposed himself at his home when the pair were alone.

“I do remember speaking to his wife about this and she just said: ‘Oh, don’t take any notice, that’s just Cabes’.

“I know he shouldn’t have acted in this way and it’s just good to get it off our chest and make it right.”

Five women have now accused Cable, who is being sued for damages by the first woman to testify against him, of sexually assaulting them while he was playing and coaching top-level football.

He denies the claims and is not facing criminal charges.

The woman who launched the legal case told the court the famous rover started sexually abusing her when she was about 12 or 13 in the late 1960s.

It allegedly continued through her teens, escalating from sexualised conversations and unwanted touching to “degrading” sexual violence and forceful intercourse.

The second woman to accuse Cable said he inappropriately touched her in the 1980s and ’90s when she was aged between eight and 14.

The third woman who has given evidence against Cable alleged that he tried to also have sex with her in a spa when she was about 11 in the 1980s.

Cable, who was elevated to legend status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2012, also played for Perth Football Club and East Perth Football Club.

The trial will resume on Friday with closing submissions.