Australia

AFL abuse scandal widens to include paedophile coach at Carlton


The AFL historical child sexual abuse scandal has widened to include a second club whose 1970s Little League program was overseen by a paedophile coach.

An ABC Sport investigation has discovered that Carlton’s Little League team was coached and managed for five seasons between 1973 and 1977 by John Dennis Morice, a prolific paedophile who was later convicted on numerous occasions for the sexual abuse of schoolboy footballers he coached.

Under the VFL’s (now AFL) rules for the Little League competition, clubs were required to select at least 100 boys per season, meaning hundreds of Carlton players were coached by a sex offender whose crimes were once described by a County Court Judge as “depraved, sickening and repugnant”.

ABC Sport has spoken to a number of former Carlton Little League players who were sexually abused by Morice, who died in 2016. A lauded, popular and successful coach, Morice led the Carlton Little League team for more than 100 games, steering the Blues’ Under-11s to multiple grand final appearances.

Morice received convictions for the sexual abuse of boys in 1978, 1981, 1991, 2004 and 2006, the latter being historical cases to address abuse that victims had taken decades to report.

In 2004, when Morice pleaded guilty to five counts of indecently assaulting a child under 16, County Court Judge Geoff Chettle described the crimes as being “towards the top of the range”, and sentenced Morice to two years in jail with a non-parole period of 10 months.

Before jailing Morice, Judge Chettle said: “You preyed upon young, vulnerable and impressionable boys.”

In the past fortnight, ABC Sport has spoken to several former Carlton Little League players who have never previously shared the stories of their abuse.

“It [playing for Carlton] was probably a high point of my football,” one says.

“But there was the loss of that for me.

Hundreds of Carlton players were coached by John Morice (right), with clubs required to select at least 100 players per season.(

Supplied

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What happened to numerous boys who encountered John Morice was nothing short of shocking.

Morice first came to the attention of police and the courts in the 1970s, when he lured boys away from shopping centres, abusing them in his car, and in one case, took a boy home and digitally penetrated him — offences that attracted charges of child stealing and indecent assault.

Later, when he was an Under-11s football coach in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, Morice was jailed for taking two players — aged eight and 11 at the time — home on numerous occasions and forcing them to perform sexual acts on him and themselves, and subjecting one to digital penetration.

One victim said Morice’s abuse had stopped him from being able to enjoy himself, maintain healthy relationships or reach his potential, consigning him instead to periods of alcohol dependence, heroin addiction and severe depression — a life he described as “unstable and impoverished.”

In 1991, having received a suspended sentence for three more counts of indecent assault, Morice was subject to a community-based order with conditions that included the prescription of Melleril, a tranquilliser that would suppress his paedophilic urges.

As a result of his repeat offending, Morice was eventually cast out of his family, too, but few of his victims could place such protective distance between themselves and the coach.

‘Few of them are eligible bachelors’

Former Carlton Little League players told ABC Sport that Morice not only avoided detection during his time at Carlton, but became a popular figure at Princes Park.

“A lot of the parents whose kids he molested thought the world of him,” one former player says.

“But they didn’t know what he was doing to their kids.”

Plenty of players who hadn’t been subjected to Morice’s abuse thought highly of him too.

“He was the best coach I had,” one of Morice’s former players says.

Carlton Little League players jostle for the ball in a black and white photo on the cover of the Football Record.
Carlton Little League players were the cover stars of the Football Record for their grand final loss to St Kilda in 1973. Both of the Under-11 teams that day were coached by paedophiles.(

Supplied: Football Record

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In 1977, Morice was lauded in the VFL match-day programme for his energy and devotion to the boys of the Carlton team.

“If you’ve watched the Carlton Little League team playing this year, you’ll have almost certainly noticed a man with a slightly ginger coloured beard, going around the boundary offering advice to the youngsters,” read a Football Record tribute to Morice upon his 100-game milestone.

“His name is John Morice, a 42-year-old purchasing officer with the Mental Health Authority at St Nicholas Hospital, who devotes at least 20 hours to looking after the interests and organising the Blues. He is one of several men who have completed the 100 but few of them are eligible bachelors.

“There are few men who would find the time to devote to the interests of youngsters, and many parents are indeed proud of his efforts.”

But such pride was neither enduring nor a consensus view. According to one player, before Morice even took on the Carlton Little League coaching role, his sexual abuse of boys had already prompted his removal from one northern suburbs community football club.

“He got done for touching up kids,” the player says.

‘You will be always under my control’

One former Carlton Little League player shared with ABC Sport a series of Morice’s team newsletters and match reports, whose contents provide uncomfortable insights into Morice’s methods of grooming, and how he leveraged the power of the Carlton brand to manipulate the boys.

In one season-ending newsletter, in which Morice farewelled team members who were too old to play the following season, he wrote: “The boy who sends me the best recruit will be given a reward at the end of the season.”

In the same missive, Morice informed Carlton players that five medals — one gold, one silver, three bronze — were to be presented to the team’s best players at the end of the season. The catch: the medals would only be presented on a postseason weekend away in the country town of Echuca, which compelled boys to attend.

One player described it as a “weird weekend”, where boys slept on a gymnasium floor and played a pointless exhibition game.

“With an adult hat on now,” the player says, “I think, ‘That was probably a dangerous time’.”

A black and white newspaper image of three boys in replica St Kilda uniforms playing Australian rules football.
In 1975, when this photograph was taken, John Morice’s Carlton team and Darrell Ray’s St Kilda were again contenders for the VFL’s Little League premiership, then sponsored by the State Savings Bank.(

Supplied: Football Record

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In the lead-up to that trip, Morice wrote:

Morice wrote personal letters to players, too. “It is unwise for a coach to have personal friends amongst the boys, as there is always a chance he might favour them over another boy who is not quite as good a friend,” Morice wrote to one 11-year-old.

“However, there were a few boys in the squad whom I classed as close friends and whom I liked just a little bit more than the others. You were one of those friends.”

The newsletters also reveal the inner workings of the Carlton Little League team and confirm the view of former players that Morice — who was pictured wearing an official Carlton Football Club blazer in one team photo — was well-connected and supported by the club prior to his arrest and convictions.

In his reports, Morice wrote of training sessions at Carlton’s Princes Park base and a team raffle to be drawn by Carlton secretary Bert Deacon, the 1947 Brownlow medallist. Players say Morice presented top performers with show bags containing the Yoo-Hoo milk endorsed by Carlton hero Alex Jesaulenko.

“It was within the bounds of Carlton Football Club at the time,” one player says.

“We were integrated into the club. It was part of the club. The team structure was around it. I always got the impression he (Morice) had access to other resources at Carlton.

On Friday, Carlton CEO Cain Liddle released a statement.

“The club has been made aware of historical allegations dating back to the 1970s and condemns in the strongest possible way, any abuse of any kind,” he said.

Liddle said Carlton was not aware of reports of Morice’s offending until contacted by ABC Sport.

“Once we were made aware, it was the club’s priority to inform our integrity team of the allegations, who have since made contact with the appropriate authorities including Victoria Police and the AFL Integrity Unit. As a club, we will absolutely provide our full support and cooperation to any police investigation.”

‘There has to be an end game’

The AFL historical child sexual abuse scandal, which began with former St Kilda star Rod Owen’s disclosure of his abuse at the hands of the Saints’ Little League coach and team manager in the 1970s, has prompted dozens of survivors to share their stories.

An ABC Sport investigation revealed that paedophile coach Darrell Ray ran the Saints team for 11 seasons between 1967 and 1977, abusing many players. Owen was also molested by St Kilda Little League team manager Albert Briggs. The St Kilda program was infiltrated by other paedophiles, including Ray’s brother-in-law Gary Mitchell.

Last Friday, almost two months after Owen shared his story, St Kilda’s Board approved the removal of Briggs and convicted paedophile Trevor Gravell from the club’s life members’ list. In 2014, Gravell was convicted of child sex crimes unrelated to the St Kilda Little League team.

The AFL, which didn’t join other major sporting bodies in giving a voluntary submission to the Royal Commission into institutional responses to childhood sexual abuse, now confronts a crisis that has affected hundreds of men. Its response so far has been to direct survivors to police, and its own integrity unit has made contact with some survivors.

Not everyone views the league’s current approach as adequate or sustainable. Veteran player advocate Peter Jess, who is overseeing Owen’s communication with St Kilda and the AFL, claimed two weeks ago that legal action and compensation was inevitable.

Jess now says the AFL needs to commission an investigation into the Little League and believes that St Kilda and Carlton are unlikely to be outliers.

Rod Owen stands under a bus shelter and looks straight at the camera.
Rod Owen bravely told his story to the ABC, which prompted many more victims to come forward.(

ABC Sport: Russell Jackson

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“There are two things here. One is the need to thoroughly investigate what has happened in the past, with paedophiles operating for long periods at AFL clubs.

“It is my strong view that an independent investigation needs to take place. The AFL does not have the expertise to conduct that investigation itself.

“The other thing is to ensure that it never happens again, by ensuring there are robust systems such as a central registry of all people who are in contact with junior footballers.

Regardless, St Kilda and Carlton now provide an unfortunate symbolic image of an unravelling problem. In the Little League’s centrepiece game of 1973, St Kilda defeated Carlton in the grand final at Princes Park. Newspaper reports later claimed the schoolboys provided greater entertainment than the senior game. But it came at a cost: both teams were coached by prolific, recidivist paedophiles who’d abused boys putting on the show.

On Friday, AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon released a statement about abuse in the Little League.

“The AFL was not previously aware of these distressing reports of sexual assaults having been suffered across the Little League program in the 1970s and takes them extremely seriously,” Dillon said.

“The Victoria Police are the appropriate authority to investigate these claims of criminal activity and the AFL will provide further support and welfare for those wanting to come forward.”



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