October 18th 2024.
Former AFL player and Hall of Famer, Carl Ditterich, has been charged with historical child sexual abuse and will stand trial for these serious allegations. The 79-year-old appeared in front of the Melbourne Magistrates Court today, accompanied by members of his family. It is alleged that he sexually abused a girl under the age of 16 in 1985, after he had retired from the Victorian Football League.
According to the charges, the incident occurred in a parked car in a back street of Moorabbin after the two had gone to buy alcohol. Ditterich was charged with three counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency in April. During the hearing, Magistrate Stephen Ballek noted that a diary kept by the alleged victim at the time would be a crucial piece of evidence. The woman had re-read the diary after providing her initial statement to the police in January 2023, which brought back "more thoughts and recollections" about the alleged assault.
Ballek also mentioned that the woman's diary had triggered flashbacks after she saw her own handwriting again. She was said to have "relived" the traumatic experience of the alleged assault. Ditterich, a former ruckman who played for St Kilda and Melbourne for 17 years, has a long history in the AFL/VFL. He is known as one of the most reported players in the league, having appeared before the tribunal 19 times and serving a total of 30 match suspensions. He was also unable to play in St Kilda's only premiership in 1966 due to a six-match ban.
Ditterich's achievements on the field are impressive, having been named in St Kilda's team of the century and inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004. However, his current legal situation has raised questions about his status in the league's Hall of Fame. In April, AFL chairman Richard Goyder stated that the league would wait for the conclusion of Ditterich's court proceedings before making any decisions on his Hall of Fame status.
This is not the first time a former AFL legend has faced serious consequences for sexual abuse. In 2023, the AFL Commission stripped Barry Cable of his Hall of Fame honours after a judge found him guilty of sexually abusing a young girl during his playing career. Cable, a premiership player for North Melbourne, Perth, and East Perth, had been upgraded to "legend" status in 2012. Ditterich's next court date is set for November 18, and support is available for victims of sexual assault at the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT.
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