- Western Bulldogs hit with huge payout settlement
- Jury ruled that club gave pedophiles access to boy
- The victim’s lawyers say the amount is an Australian record
An AFL club will pay out almost $6 million to a child sex abuse victim after being found negligent in granting special access to the boy to a pedophile.
A High Court civil jury ruled against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday over the abuse of Adam Kneale, 51, by a club fundraiser, after a four-week trial.
When asked whether the football club’s negligence caused Mr Kneale’s injuries, the foreman said ‘yes’.
The six-person jury determined that Mr Kneale should be awarded $5,943,151 for pain and suffering, loss of earnings and medical expenses.
Mr Kneale hugged his supporters in court after hearing the verdict.
Adam Kneale (pictured outside court) told the court that pedophile Graeme Hobbs first raped him at the Bulldogs’ home ground when he was 12 years old
Lawyers for Kneale (pictured as boy) said the $6 million payout is an Australian record
His lawyers say the damages are the largest awarded by a jury to an abuse survivor in Australia, and the first against an AFL club.
He was the victim of a years-long campaign of sexual abuse by Graeme Hobbs, known as ‘Chops’, who trained under-19s at Footscray Football Club and was a prolific volunteer fundraiser for the club.
He was just 12 years old when ‘jack of all trades’ Hobbs first raped him in an administration building on the club’s home ground in 1984.
Mr Kneale took the case to court saying the football club was vicariously liable for his abuse because Hobbs was given special access.
He sought higher damages after the club failed to contact him when his abuse became public – a failure he claims left him without closure after everything that happened on the ground.
The Western Bulldogs had denied knowledge of the offence.
Mr Kneale told the court last month that he was first introduced to Hobbs at the age of 11 or 12 through a classmate, who suggested the man was a source of “easy money”.
Mr Kneale would meet Hobbs at the top of a stairwell at the Bulldogs’ home ground (pictured) and Hobbs would hand over cash and instruct him to return after half-time.
The Bulldogs (club CEO Ameet Bains, pictured) denied the club was aware of the breach
He met Hobbs at the top of a stairwell at the Bulldogs’ home base at the start of games and Hobbs would hand over cash and order him to return after halftime.
As Mr Kneale grew older and Hobbs continued to abuse him, the now deceased pedophile opened up more about what he and others did.
He told 16-year-old Mr Kneale about meetings on farms and ‘swap meets’ where pedophiles would bring their ‘best boys’ to be abused by different people.
When his daughter was born, Mr Kneale said he realized he had to report Hobbs to the police, knowing he was abusing other children, including those who had “not been out of nappies that long”.
Mr Kneale said he was unable to work for years after Hobbs received an inadequate prison sentence and left relationships to avoid burdening his partners, deeming himself ‘irreparably damaged’.
Former club chairman Peter Gordon told the court he first became aware of Hobbs’ crimes when a journalist contacted the club in April last year.
Hobbs pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting Mr Kneale on May 25, 1994, with the local newspaper running the story on its front page.
Mr Gordon was club chairman at the time the story was published but denied ever seeing the article or being told about it.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redressal Support Service 1800 211 028