Ex-AFL legend Barry Cable faces historical child sex abuse claims involving 8yo child in the 1960s

A witness who claims she was abused by former AFL great Barry Cable for more than a decade told a court he said he would teach her “about the birds and bees” when she was 13-years-old.

Mr Cable is fighting historical child sexual abuse charges that involve a young girl he allegedly abused inside his Perth home in the 1960s.

The 82-year-old is defending five counts of indecent dealing with a girl aged under 13 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 during a seven day trial in the Perth District Court.

The charges relate to allegations he abused a girl when she was aged about eight-years-old six decades ago.

Another woman, who cannot be named, was giving evidence in the trial and told the court shortly after she met Mr Cable when she was 13-years-old his conversations became sexualised before it moved onto something more.

She claimed Mr Cable told her she needed to learn about the birds and bees and he would take on that role. 

“He just started talking about the body … he made comments that were very unusual, different for me,” she said.

“(He would) tell me how lucky I was to have someone who is teaching me how to be a hit with men.

“I didn’t really understand. I felt terrible and didn’t know what it all meant.”

The woman told the court the contact became physical and continued for more than a decade before it stopped when she got married.

The court was told how she would hide or not answer the door when she heard a car pull up to her house and froze terrified when she saw him at a restaurant.

“I remember that contact was relentless,” she said.

Mr Cable is facing charges over allegations he sexually assaulted another girl while his wife was asleep at their Gosnells home, in Perth’s southeast.

The court was told Mr Cable allegedly penetrated her with his finger, rubbed vaseline on her vagina then tried to have sex with her.

On other occasions the former footballer allegedly told her how to suck his penis and masturbate him before ejaculating into her mouth and on her body.

State Prosecutor Kim Jennings told the court Mr Cable would tell his victim she was special, he loved her, but that her parents did not.

“After three weeks he lost interest in her,” she said.

The court was told three other women will give evidence during the seven day trial and allege Mr Cable abused them when they were underage. Mr Cable is not facing criminal charges in relation to those allegations.

Defence lawyer Tom Percy said Mr Cable completely denied the allegations against him.

He said the victim first complained to police in 2023, after Mr Cable was ordered to pay compensation to a person in a civil proceeding.

“It is no coincidence the complaint emerged for the first time following Mr Cable’s civil case, which resulted in unlawful damages,” he said.

“The proposition she was … abused by Barry Cable is completely untrue.

“Helen Cable will give evidence that the complainant never came to visit or stay with them for one night, never.

“We will say she is unreliable witness the court cannot rely on. We say she was a dishonest child, and not much may have changed over the years.”

During her evidence, the victim denied she made up the allegations against Mr Cable.

She said the abuse occurred at night time in her bedroom or the lounge room at his home.

“He treated me good, he was nice to me,” she told the court.

“He told me they don’t wear underwear in the house, I just wore dresses and no underwear.

“He was loving towards me like an uncle would love you, at first, and then things changed.”

The trial continues.