AFL great Carl Ditterich charged with child sex offences

[Saintmatt]

This is a bit grim … https://www.theage.com.au/national/vict ... 5fjdg.html

[magnifisaint]

AFL great Carl Ditterich has been charged with several child sex offences following an investigation into an alleged incident in 1985.

Detectives charged the 78-year-old with three counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency.

The charges are alleged to be related to one victim.

He was due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

Victoria Police confirmed the arrest on Friday in a statement.

“Bayside Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team detectives have charged a man following an investigation into alleged historic child sex offences,” the statement said.

“The incidents against one victim occurred in Heatherton in 1985.”

[The_Dud]

I think a lot of blokes from his era will be sweating about skeletons in their closet

[Devilhead]

Why haven't Melbourne been contacted for comment?

And actually why should the club comment anyway considering it alledgedly happened 5 years after he retired

[asiu]

i've just been through this nightmare with a mate
though there was no other person involved
... a thesis he was working re the general subject matter

... associated images (artistic not pornographic)
were reported to the Police by a friend of his flatmate
thats what started it

everyone , dropped him once he was charged

his face was plastered over the tell-a-vision
making him out to be a monster

his movements curtailed 'n tracked

his character trashed

his weekly involvements in different aspects of social life
shuttered from his attendance

three years
at a huge expense financially (for his brother)
to be cleared in Court

within 3 months
the 'powers that be'
(who would seem not to be happy with his innocence)

via supposably 'bank' reported transaction irregularities
18 months after they were deposited
constructed new charges
this time over elder abuse
re an old bird with deteriorating dementia he'd been looking out for over many years 'n some $ she had contributed to his financial survival

this time he had to leave the village he lived in
(coz Barbs also lived there)
was banned from his suburb
had to live once he got bail (basically) under house arrest
from 9pm - 6 am ... with visits from the Police expected

it was an exercise in sleep deprivation

before he got bail
he was locked up

vigilante prison guards
who had access to his 'history'
beat the bejeezus out him

then repeated the dose

those charges have just been dropped

[D.B.Cooper]

Why haven't Melbourne been contacted for comment?

And actually why should the club comment anyway considering it alledgedly happened 5 years after he retired

Fair questions, but I doubt you are genuinely serious.

Being a former high profile sportsman is the reason his name is news.

Collingwood was linked in all articles related to charges against the paedophile former leader of their cheer squad.

[Waltzing St Kilda]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

[saynta]

Gawd, say it isn't so neddy.

[amusingname]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

[Yorkeys]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Have to wonder about timing though, whatever the merits of the case.

[B.M]

Just because you don’t want something to be true

Does not mean it isn’t

[Saintmatt]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Thankfully. Unlike nowadays - a 15yo in 1985 looked 15. All round no good sadly

[D.B.Cooper]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Have to wonder about timing though, whatever the merits of the case.

I am confused by your comment.

Why would you wonder about the timing?

[skeptic]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Have to wonder about timing though, whatever the merits of the case.

I am confused by your comment.

Why would you wonder about the timing?

I was going to ask the same.

At the risk of getting ahead/words in mouth/leading the discussion which is absolutely not my intent…

IF the question of timing is in the context of why has this come out now (and whilst I’ll address that, I’m not suggesting that definitively it is meant that way)… having witnessed many court cases of this nature (in a professional sense)…
Judges make it pretty clear to juries that the actual reporting habits of victims cannot reasonably be interpreted on face value.
Some speak up right away
Others have supportive ppl around them that notice something is up, get them help and it comes out
Many sit on it for a while and come forward later
Some feel great shame and never report it
Many never want to relieve the experience and will never confront it
Others are pressured or threatened into silence
Often cases, people feel guilt, fear or shame and don’t want to confront it

I attended a case recently where a professional was accused of this type of misconduct and there were 9 or so victims… roughly same demographics in terms of age, education etc
Huge variance in who reported what to who and when.

[Yorkeys]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Have to wonder about timing though, whatever the merits of the case.

I am confused by your comment.

Why would you wonder about the timing?

39 years have past. Tasol.

[saintsRrising]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Have to wonder about timing though, whatever the merits of the case.

I am confused by your comment.

Why would you wonder about the timing?

39 years have past. Tasol.

And?

Over the years I have heard, or read, the stories of many people who were sexually molested when they were young (both males and females) speak on how in took decades for them to come forward for all sorts of reasons. The pain, the felt shame, not having the confidence to believe that they would be believed, lack of support, etc etc


Just look at our own Rod Owen as but one example.


"Owen was sexually molested by former Beaumaris Primary school librarian and sports coach Darrell Ray at the school in 1976, and by a St Kilda life member, the late Albert Briggs, in the MCG changerooms the same year. Briggs was the manager of the Saints Little League team, and Ray was its coach that year.

In 2001, Ray pleaded guilty to 27 counts of indecently assaulting 19 boys at Beaumaris Primary School, where he worked between 1971 and 1976. He had previously taught at Moorabbin Primary school between 1967 and 1970, and coached numerous local sporting teams"

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-03/ ... /100046586

[Yorkeys]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Have to wonder about timing though, whatever the merits of the case.

I am confused by your comment.

Why would you wonder about the timing?

39 years have past. Tasol.

And?

Over the years I have heard, or read, the stories of many people who were sexually molested when they were young (both males and females) speak on how in took decades for them to come forward for all sorts of reasons. The pain, the felt shame, not having the confidence to believe that they would be believed, lack of support, etc etc


Just look at our own Rod Owen as but one example.


"Owen was sexually molested by former Beaumaris Primary school librarian and sports coach Darrell Ray at the school in 1976, and by a St Kilda life member, the late Albert Briggs, in the MCG changerooms the same year. Briggs was the manager of the Saints Little League team, and Ray was its coach that year.

In 2001, Ray pleaded guilty to 27 counts of indecently assaulting 19 boys at Beaumaris Primary School, where he worked between 1971 and 1976. He had previously taught at Moorabbin Primary school between 1967 and 1970, and coached numerous local sporting teams"

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-03/ ... /100046586

Thanks for the info.
There was really no more to the wondering than trying to appreciate why the lag, without inferring anything one way or the other.
There is insufficient detail in the preliminary reports to understand the delay without the benefit of the experience you and Skeptic have, and news was shocking.
I see now that blundering in on such topics is fraught. Best just keep the noggin down and not wonder out loud.
Obviously a very sad complex situation and thinking out loud about it is clearly inappropriate and hopelessly clumsy. Apologies.

[D.B.Cooper]

What's the statute of limitations these days?

There isn’t one for sex offences

Have to wonder about timing though, whatever the merits of the case.

I am confused by your comment.

Why would you wonder about the timing?

39 years have past. Tasol.

Firstly I was not asking due to thinking any sinister reasoning on your behalf.

My wife as an example was molested as a very young girl by an uncle, she was in her 40’s before she told me and 50 when she told her parents.

She felt shame and embarrassment and it took decades for her to be able to speak about it and confront the perpetrator.

One of the reasons she held back was she feared my reaction and retribution I would seek.

There are lots of reasons it takes people time to face their truth.

[skeptic]

Yorker… just to add as well. There’s really no need for the humility that you’re demonstrating (though it is nice). You used the term ‘blundering in’… also tough. One can see your query did not come from a bad place.

I’m a very big advocate of the idea that these questions need to be asked and answered diplomatically with sensitivity for us to be better as a society. This has been a good albeit delicate discussion

[diddley]

Can I just add, although the topic of the conversation is a sensitive one, and a few people have made comments that could be taken the wrong way, many have allowed their view to be expressed without this going off the rails.
What has become of this place?

[Sanctorum]

What's happened to the presumption of innocence??

In recent times state DPPs have come under severe criticism from judges for prosecuting alleged male perpetrators of sexual crimes against women only for these to be thrown out of court for lack of evidence.

In some European countries the media are allowed to publish only the initials of people charged with committing an offence. That provision should also be adopted in Australia!

[The G Train Legacy]

I don't know Carl Ditterich and I don't know the person making the allegation. So I have no idea as to the substance of the allegtions. Unfortunately, I can't rely on a Criminal charge as substance, as the Police often press charges even if they barely have a case.

Given that it allegedly occurred almost 40 years ago, I wonder how you prove it, unless Ditterich admits to it? I would suggest it would be close to impossible to really meet the burden of proof.

I know there are often reasons why complaints aren't made for years, unfortunately it doesn't change the fact that it makes things difficult to prove.

[bigcarl]

What's happened to the presumption of innocence??

In recent times state DPPs have come under severe criticism from judges for prosecuting alleged male perpetrators of sexual crimes against women only for these to be thrown out of court for lack of evidence.

In some European countries the media are allowed to publish only the initials of people charged with committing an offence. That provision should also be adopted in Australia!

This is why I’ll be sticking with my nic. Presumption of innocence. He was a childhood hero of mine.

[Otiman]

It's hard when you know deep down you might have to change your beliefs about a hero.

Look at OJ Simpson, there were people ecstatic when he was found not guilty, perhaps even a majority of people.

It took some time for people to come to grips with it.

Jimmy Saville, Gary Glitter - the world is littered with examples.

[bigcarl]

It's hard when you know deep down you might have to change your beliefs about a hero.

Look at OJ Simpson, there were people ecstatic when he was found not guilty, perhaps even a majority of people.

It took some time for people to come to grips with it.

Jimmy Saville, Gary Glitter - the world is littered with examples.

Yep, well they have to be found guilty first in a court of law.

In OJ’s case, he wasn’t … but the evidence against was so damning that he spent the rest of his life largely shunned, and deservedly so. In a sense, he WAS found guilty by his peers, just not in the strict legal sense.

It was an awful failure of the US justice system that was only only to a small degree set right by the winning civil case against him. I don’t see many tears for him.

He can now rest peacefully, knowing that his wife’s killer is now dead.