Ex-Aussie rules football legend Barry Cable cleared in historical child sex abuse case
Former Australian football legend Barry Cable has been found not guilty of historic child sex abuse charges.
Cable has denied the allegations against him and will walk free from the Perth District Court on Monday after being cleared of indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl.
Judge Michael Bowden found Mr Cable not guilty on all counts.
The 82-year-old football star was accused of repeatedly abusing a young girl at his home in Perth in the 1960s, but he denied the allegations.
He was found not guilty of five counts of indecent sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.
Cable faced a week-long single judge hearing in the Perth District Court last month, where a woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, accused Mr Cable of abusing her as a child while her partner slept in another room.
Cable was regarded as one of the greatest players of his era and is regarded as a football legend in Victoria and Western Australia.
He played with Perth in the Western Australian Football League, then at North Melbourne where he was a dominant player during one of the club’s most successful periods.
He won two premierships with the Kangaroos in 1975 and 1977 and was named the club’s best and fairest player in 1970.
He was also named in the North Melbourne Team of the Century.
Cable was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was elevated to legend status in 2012.
In WA he won the WAFL Sandover Medal three times and played in four premierships.
