The Western Bulldogs Australian Football Club must pay Adam Kneale $3.8 million in damages for failing to take the necessary steps to protect him from this child abuse, as reported by judicial sources on Thursday.
In their verdict, Victoria State Supreme Court judges criticized the Western Bulldogs (also known as Footscray Football Club) for their failure to prevent Adam Kneale, who suffered the abuse, a court heard. judicial source at the court. EFE agency.
Following the verdict, Judge Melinda Richards ordered the club to pay the multi-million sum of the highest reward awarded in Australia to a pedophilia victim. Richards explained:
The money would be used to compensate for the pain, suffering, lost income and medical costs associated with this attack.
Kneale was raped on the club’s grounds between 1984 – when he was 12 – and 1990. Graeme Hobbs, the coach of suburban team Footscray and a well-known fundraiser for the club.
The plaintiff argued that the club was vicariously responsible for this sexual abuse because it gave Hobbs, who died in 2009, special access to the minors’ and Western Bulldogs’ sporting facilities.
In addition, the victim, now 51, has made other financial claims in the lawsuit filed with the Australian judiciary last year, as when the rape became public in the 1990s the Western Bulldogs did not pursue it.
Kneale argued at that trial that he developed addictions, post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety shortly after the rape, a situation that prevented him from developing his full potential in his work.
In 1993, Kneale reported Hobbs to Victoria Police, who began legal proceedings that ended with the arrest of his attacker and another man for various crimes, including participation in a network that passed the complainant on to other pedophiles so that they would do the same do like him. could. being arrested and abused.
The following year, Hobbs pleaded guilty to Kneale’s rape, although the Western Bulldogs denied knowledge of the crime, according to news agency AAP.
The club has released a statement regarding the recent historical abuse case.
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– Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs) November 9, 2023
(With information from EFE)
Source: La Neta Neta
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
