West Kimberley Football League clubs dismayed star player allowed to return to the game following criminal sentence
The player, in his late 20s, was sentenced in May last year to 16 months in jail after pleading guilty to using electronic communication to expose a person under 16 to indecent matter and procure them to engage in sexual activity.
The Broome District Court heard he contacted a girl on social media apps between January and August 2023, while she was aged 13 and 14. He sent explicit images and videos of himself to the girl and tried to convince her to meet him for sexual activity.
Judge Mark Herron made the player eligible for parole and he was released earlier this year.
Several clubs in the league believe not enough risk assessment has been done before allowing the player for Cable Beach Football and Sporting Club to resume his footballing career.
One club in the WKFL has requested the league refer the matter to the AFL integrity unit, as it was concerned the decision could set a "dangerous" precedent for their league being used as a gateway of integration back into the community for people convicted of serious crimes, particularly against women and children.
The WA Football Commission has its own integrity unit which oversees reports and complaints in the state.
An email sent by Cable Beach Football Club's president to fellow club presidents said while they "acknowledge the seriousness of the circumstances", they also "recognise the important role that football and community can play in supporting individuals through challenging periods".
The league issued a response to clubs informing them that the player was being supported to return to football after a considered process by the club, which included risk assessment, internal governance under their club constitution and consultation with relevant authorities, including WA police.
Their position is that there are no rules or regulations that currently prohibit the player from participating in the WKFL senior men's competition.
Last week the league held a meeting with club presidents where a forum was created to discuss the matter.
Following this, the league sent an email to club presidents advising them that the matter was investigated and under competition rules and regulations, the player was eligible to return and would do so this season.
"The WKFL understands the importance football plays within the community and is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all participants," the email read.
"The WKFL takes this opportunity to remind all clubs of their leadership role and responsibility to ensure positive game day environments."
However, one club that spoke to ABC Sport said they were "heartbroken" by the decision and believed not enough due diligence was done in determining the risk to other members of the football community.
They said they would like experts to be involved in order to find "a balance of healthy paranoia around child safety and also a really intense integrity plan and community safety plan".
"I feel like if we accept it now (football as an integration program), it'll be harder to overturn," a committee member of one club told ABC Sport.
"It's also the timing, the integration has happened too quick. We're not resourced to handle this type of integration.
"They claim to have a reintegration program or safety plan (but) that wasn't consulted or shared with any other club.
"I think if we are integrating people back into our community, I think it's something that we collectively have to do. I think we all collectively have to agree that it's something that we want to do."
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