Judge Michael Bowden delivered a not guilty verdict for seven charges against Barry Cable, who faced a judge-only criminal trial over allegations he abused a girl aged about eight or nine at his family home in the late 1960s. Prosecutors alleged Barry Cable abused the girl at his family home when she was staying with him and his wife for about a month. The alleged victim reported the abuse to police in 2023 when she spotted Cable on television.
Judge Bowden found it more probable than not that the alleged victim was telling the truth, but was not persuaded of guilt beyond reasonable doubt due to case delays and evidence issues. Barry Cable was acquitted of five counts of indecent dealing with a girl aged under 13 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 between December 31, 1966 and December 31, 1969. Three women gave tendency evidence during the trial that Barry Cable sexually touched them in Victoria and Western Australia.
Our case is the allegations are simply false.
Barry Cable denies the child sexual abuse claims. His lawyer Tom Percy said the case against his client was unsalvageable and there were no witnesses or forensic evidence to back the complainant's claims. Prosecutor Kim Jennings argued Barry Cable's offending was brazen, citing specific intimate details recalled by the complainant.
The case involved complexities stemming from the lengthy delay, which created forensic disadvantages and led to conflicting interpretations of 1970s documents about the girl's stay. Broader context includes differences between the tendency witnesses' accounts and the main allegations, as well as the outcome of a 2023 civil trial related to these matters.
The telling blow in this case was Helen Cable's evidence. The prosecution case simply can't survive.
She is remembering back 60 years and remembering as a small child. This is a child who had a pretty traumatic start to life. What stands out is the sexual abuse, not the details of where it happened.
Barry Cable thought he was invincible. He had a very successful football career, and he was quite famous in the community.