An ex-Geelong Cats listed footballer has taken legal action against the club, alleging a trio of his former teammates gang raped him during his teenage years.
The unnamed former player's choice to sue the football club on the ground that the organisation did little to protect him during the time of the attack.
As reported byย News Corp,ย the anonymous former athlete is said to have been 15 or 16 at the time of the sexual assault which took place at the club owned property Aberdeen House, a dwelling used to house young Cats players from 1963.
As purported by the player, he was corned by three senior teammates in the shower of the property during the early 1980s.
The player, now in his late 50s and an indigenous elder within his community, is seeking a trial by jury in the Supreme Court, stating that the Geelong Football Club held a โduty to take reasonable care of his welfare, safety and supervisionโ.
Speaking on behalf of her client, lawyer Angela Di Carluccio of Arnold Thomas & Becker said the courage to stand forward should be admired.
โMy client has shown a lot of courage and strength in coming forward about his abuse,โ said Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyer Angela Di Carluccio.
โHe is a proud and well respected Indigenous man who has fought hard in his life to overcome his trauma and to contribute positively to his community.โ
In the Supreme Court write reported on by News Corp, the plaintiff has not been named, nor the three alleged assaulters.
โ(Geelong FC) placed senior players in a position where they had authority, power, trust, control and the ability to achieve intimacy over the plaintiff, which afforded them the opportunity to abuse (him),โ the legal document states.
โThe Plaintiff was vulnerable by reason of his age, displacement from family and dislocation from his home.โ
However, Geelong are being sued due to the lack of supervision or care afforded to the player.
โThere was a failure to properly supervise Aberdeen House or separate my client from players who were adult men,โ Di Carluccio added.
The anonymous ex-Cat is said to have played under-19s football for the club during the early 80s, but departed soon after the attack.
They are also said to have sustained a psychiatric injury in the wake of the sexual assault, an ailment that has reduced their capacity to work, earn and sustain themselves.
Aberdeen House is no longer club owned property, with the Cats selling the weatherboard boarding house in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Geelong is yet to comment on the allegations.
