Western Bulldogs ordered to pay $6m for child sex abuse

An Australian rules football club will pay out almost $6 million to a child sex abuse victim after it was found negligent in giving a pedophile special access to the boy.

The Western Bulldogs have been ordered to fork out a $5.9 million compensation payout to a child sex abuse victim, after a Supreme Court jury ruled the club was negligent and failed to stop a paedophile who preyed on young boys.

After a three-week trial, the jury found in favour of Adam Kneale, who sued the club and claimed it was liable for lifelong damage he sustained at the hands of former Bulldogs volunteer Graeme Hobbs.

Outside court, Mr Kneale told reporters he had waited 30 years for his pain to be recognised, and said he hoped the outcome gave other abuse survivors confidence.

The jury announced it would award $3.25 million for Mr Kneale’s pain and suffering, $2.6 million for loss of earnings, and a further $87,000 for medical costs.

The result is likely to cause financial strife for the AFL club, who will need to borrow funds to pay damages, its current chief executive Ameet Bains told the trial.

Lawyer Michael Magazanik, who represented Mr Kneale, said the result should serve as a “lesson” for the club.

“This is the biggest verdict for an abuse survivor in Australian legal history and it’s a credit to Adam’s guts and perseverance,” he said.

“The Western Bulldogs failed Adam as a child — there’s no two ways about it — they failed him tragically.

“They let a paedophile ruin his life and this result is what the club deserves for that failure.”

In a statement the Western Bulldogs said the club would appeal the verdict “as expeditiously as possible”.

“While the club firmly believes it did not breach any duty of care owed to the plaintiff, Mr Adam Kneale, a jury determined otherwise,” it said.

“The abuse against Mr Kneale was the subject of a criminal investigation by Victoria Police and relevant authorities in the early 1990s, resulting in several charges being laid, a criminal conviction being sustained, and a subsequent jail sentence being served by the offender.

“The club reiterates its sorrow at the suffering endured by Mr Kneale at the time and acknowledges the pain which he continues to carry as a result of the trauma he has experienced.”

Adam Kneale ‘satisfied’ with verdict

Hobbs, who is dead, was described as a “sick and disturbed sexual predator” who groomed Mr Kneale and sexually abused him at the club’s Whitten Oval headquarters in Footscray and other locations between 1984 and 1990.