A third woman claims Barry Cable molested her as a child, as a trial against the Australian rules legend continues.
The woman, whose identity has been suppressed, appeared via video link in Western Australia’s District Court on Monday morning as the fourth day of the civil trial against Mr Cable resumed.
She told the court she was a friend of a neighbour of Mr Cable’s when he lived in Melbourne in the early 1980s.
She said the alleged incident happened when she, her friend, her friend’s older sister, a friend of the sister and Mr Cable were in a spa in her friend’s backyard in either 1983 or 1984.
She told the court Mr Cable had been showing off a large scar from a farm accident on his thigh when he pulled aside his bathers to expose his genitalia.
Mr Cable then allegedly had the young girl sit on his knee “and I could feel his erection on my backside,” said the woman.
“He was holding onto my breasts … outside my bathers,” she told the court, ”then he pulled my bathers to the side and tried to put his penis in my anus.”
The woman told the court she then jumped off at that point, because it was “really uncomfortable”.
“I remember being scared, embarrassed, probably shocked,” she told the court.
Under questioning from a lawyer for the plaintiff Tim Hammond, she revealed the alleged incident made her stop going over to her friend’s house as frequently as she had previously.
“I told her I didn‘t want to come over anymore … especially if the Cables were coming over; it made me really uncomfortable.”
Mr Cable lived in the northwest Melbourne suburb of Avondale Heights around this time, when he coached then-VFL side North Melbourne.
The woman, who appeared before court on Monday, is the third in the civil trial to allege Mr Cable, 79, sexually abused or inappropriately dealt with them when they were children or teenagers.
A woman last week told the court Mr Cable had asked her to touch his genitalia when she was eight years old, before removing her bathers and massaging her exposed chest when she was 14.
These two witnesses gave what is known as similar-fact, or propensity, evidence. This doesn’t directly prove the allegations are true, but because their evidence is similar in nature, it can show the likelihood of the offence having been committed.
The plaintiff in the case, known to the court as ZYX, alleges Mr Cable sexually abused and harassed her from 1967, when she was 12, through to 1991.
Mr Cable has not appeared in court on any day of the trial, having submitted his defence in writing prior to the start of the trial last Wednesday.
He denies all allegations, and has never been charged by police.
Meanwhile, the mother of ZYX has given evidence in a prerecorded video presented at the trial, detailing an incident when Mr Cable allegedly burst into her home naked.
The plaintiff‘s mother told the court this happened in the early 1970s, when she was in the kitchen with a teenage ZYX.
“[He] stripped off and came in with nothing on at all; I was quite shocked,” she told the court.
“I was astonished … he took off, I don’t know when he got his clothes back on.”
In the early 1990s, ZYX told her mother and father of the alleged abuse.
“She told me Barry has been sexually abusing her,” the plaintiff‘s mother told the court. “We all ended up in tears.”
ZYX gave evidence over the first two days of the trial, did not appear on Friday, but returned to hear evidence on Monday.
In an email, Mr Cable’s son, Shane, has requested to appear on behalf of his father to ensure “objectivity” in the case.
However, Judge Mark Herron told the court Shane Cable could only be involved in the case as a McKenzie Friend to his father, but only if Barry Cable appeared in person.
A McKenzie Friend can assist an individual in court, either by prompting or giving advice, but cannot directly involve themselves in proceedings.
The trial on Monday also heard from expert forensic accountant Mark Thompson, who gave evidence ZYX would have earned a six-figure salary had she not been affected by the alleged abuse.
She is seeking more than $1m in damages from Mr Cable, although a payout of that size seems unlikely, as Mr Cable declared bankruptcy in January.
Day four of the trial wrapped up early, with all witnesses called by Mr Hammond having finished giving evidence.