A former elite swimming coach has been found to have perpetrated dozens of horrific sexual assaults on six young athletes who trained under him in the 1970s and 80s.
Richard “Dick” Caine, now aged in his late 70s, was on Wednesday found to have committed 39 acts, including rape and indecent assault, on female members of his swimming squad.
The assaults took place at the Carss Park swimming pool in Sydney’s south, as well as at Caine’s home and in his car.
Caine is now in palliative care.
He was excused from answering the allegations directly, meaning the case was heard by way of a special hearing in lieu of a trial.
In handing down the verdicts, the New South Wales district court judge Paul McGuire said he found the evidence given by the victims was reliable despite the significant amount of time that had passed since the incidents.
“I am satisfied that each of the elements of each of the offences has been established beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
Several of the victims who were in court let out sighs of relief, hugged each other and wiped away tears as the verdicts were read out.
“We’ve done it,” one of them said.
McGuire found the coach had an interest in pre-pubescent and pubescent girls and acted on that interest, including raping a girl who was 10 years old at the time.
The court heard one of the victims held genuine Olympic and Commonwealth games aspirations that had been dashed due to Caine’s conduct.
A number of the victims gave evidence they were scared of Caine because of his authority and coaching style.
Multiple victims reported the presence of pornography and alcohol at the coach’s home and reported seeing the accused’s horse, which prosecutors argued gave credence to their claims.
after newsletter promotion
One of the victims gave a “graphic” account of having her hands tied, while afterwards she remembered seeing a used condom next to the bed.
Prosecutors submitted the victim’s account was “so detailed and so compelling” that it must be true.
Lawyers for Caine argued the evidence related to incidents that took place about 50 years ago and was unreliable.
But McGuire found all of the victims’ evidence to be honest and reliable, including them willingly making concessions about details they could not remember exactly.
He noted one gave compelling evidence “she would not be putting herself, her husband and her family through this if what she was saying was a lie”.
The matter will return to court on 6 December to determine a penalty.
