Ex-AFL legend Barry Cable accused of exposing himself to young girls

Two women told the court that a former AFL legend exposed them at a spa when they were children and pressed his genitals into their backs.

Victorian women gave evidence via video link during the hearing of former North Melbourne player Barry Cable facing historic child sexual abuse charges in the Perth District Court.

Mr. Cable was not charged with criminal offenses as a result of the women’s allegations, but

He faces charges over another alleged incident involving an eight-year-old girl at his home in south-east Perth in the 1960s.

The 82-year-old man is charged with five counts of indecent sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.

One of the Victorian women said she was sitting on Mr Cable’s knee in the early 1980s when the famous footballer showed her the scar on his thigh.

“He pulled the bathroom aside and I saw his penis, I was sitting on his knee and he was caressing my breasts,” she said.

“I remember he pulled me over and I could feel his penis behind me, on my backside.

“After that I got up from his knee, I was really uncomfortable.”

The woman denied exaggerating her statement to police in 2023 under pressure from defense lawyer Tom Percy KC.

He told the court he had not told anyone about the incident except his friend and was prompted to come forward after seeing media reports of Mr Cable’s civil case.

“I was really embarrassed and afraid to say anything,” she said.

Another woman presented similar allegations to the court.

She said the football player exposed himself to her on numerous occasions, sunbathing naked in front of her and going to the spa with her and her other children.

She told the court the contact would begin with her sitting on his lap, he would touch her breasts, then he would pull the bathers aside, push his erect penis against her back and try to insert the tip of his penis into her anus.

“They always had bubbles, all the time,” he said.

“He was so sassy, ​​he would say ‘come on girls, give us a hug’ and laugh,” she said.

“We’d say stop, Barry, stop it, he just laughed.”

The court was told on Tuesday that Mr Cable allegedly attacked an eight-year-old boy as he slept in his wife’s bedroom at their Perth home and tried to have sex after applying Vaseline to his genitals.

Another woman who gave evidence accused Mr. Cable of sexually assaulting her over a period of more than a decade, saying it started when she was about 13. Mr. Cable is not facing criminal charges over these allegations.

She told the court she met Mr Cable as a teenager and their conversations quickly became sexually explicit before the contact escalated into sexual abuse.

The woman claimed she was afraid of him and would avoid answering her phone or hide in her home if she heard a car approaching outside.

She said he often showed up at her house unannounced or found out where she lived when she started living outside the home as a young woman.

The trial continues.