A retired Australian swim coach has been charged for allegedly sexually abusing teenage girls that he trained over 40 years ago.
Dick Caine, 76, was arrested at his home in Sydney, Australia Wednesday morning and taken to Bankstown Police Station where he was charged with six counts of “carnal knowledge teacher of girl aged 10-17 years” and three counts of “assault female and commit act of indecency – between 14 and 16,” according to the police report.
Caine was due to appear in court later on Wednesday, where police were to allege that Caine sexually assaulted two girls, when they were aged 15-16, on a number of occasions in the mid-1970s while working as their coach.
In January 2021, officers from Kings Cross Police Area Command in New South Wales received information about multiple sexual and indecent assaults of a teenage girl at a swim school at Carss Park, located in the south of NSW, in the 1970s.
After initiating an investigation, police uncovered further information about sexual abuse incidents from another teenage girl at the same swim school, also in the 1970s.
The 76-year-old was then arrested following “extensive inquiries,” police said.
According to The Daily Mail, Caine was the head coach at Carss Park Swimming Pool for more than 40 years, and only finished his time there in 2018.
He trained 17 Olympic and world champion swimmers during his 51-year association with the pool, including Michelle Ford, Janelle Elford, Karen Phillips, Stacey Gartrell and Olympic silver medal-winning triathlete Michellie Jones.
Later on Wednesday, his wife told The Daily Mail Caine has “maybe six months” to live.
“He has strokes, he has cancer of the lung, cancer of the throat. He has seizures, he has heart problems, he has a pacemaker,” she said.
Caine has asked for the charges to be dropped because he is unlikely to live until a trial begins.
Caine was inducted into the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in March.
Caine’s charges after another accomplished Australian swimming coach from years past, John Wright, was arrested on nine counts of indecent dealing of a child in October 2021 and then charged with 20 more child abuse offenses in February.
If only Dick Pound took Dick Caine under his wing and showed him how long and hard life can be
Feel horrible for the victims. Glad they are getting justice
‘Carnal Knowledge’ = Rape for those that haven’t heard the term.
Doesn’t matter if he has 6 days, 6 months or 6 years to live – if the victims want a trial to go ahead it should.
Carnal knowledge means sexual intercourse. Rape means rape.
If the allegations are true I hope he lives another 6 years with all of his ailments in full swing.