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11 months ago
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Lawyers are preparing a civil court case against the former owner of Australian National Basketball League's most successful club after a woman came forward with new allegations of sexual assault against Australian sport's worst sexual predator.
The woman has accused Bahamian-born former professional basketball player Kendal 'Tiny' Pinder of rape, with the allegation coming after the ex-Perth Wildcats star was convicted of a long list of shocking sexual crimes.
The woman alleges Pinder attacked her in Perth when she was just 15 years old.
Now, seeing the strength of victims who have come forward, she wants justice for the alleged attack by the disgraced star.
Now aged 67, Pinder was a hero at the Western Australian team when the former NBA and Harlem Globetrotters star arrived to deliver the first of the club's record 10 championships.
However, he was sensationally arrested in 1990, with police handcuffing him in the change rooms after a Wildcats semi-final.
Kendal 'Tiny' Pinder (right) claimed two NBL championships with the Perth Wildcats before he was jailed for sexual assault
Pinder was a hero to Wildcats fans in the late 1980s and early 1990s but they had no idea of his shocking crimes against women
Club officials and players convinced police to let him play the game out, so officers waited courtside until the final whistle to bring him in.
Pinder was allowed to return to playing and helped steer the club to another title in 1991 but his career at the Wildcats ended when he was found guilty of attempting to sexually assault a 17-year-old schoolgirl at his Perth unit.
He was jailed, but was shockingly given another chance by the Illawarra Hawks in 1995 before his basketball career ended for good.
Pinder has a history of sexual convictions dating back to 1976, including prior convictions in Miami, Florida, and Perth, with offences in Australia spanning from 1988 to as recently as 2011.
In 1992 he was sentenced for attempting to sexually assault a 17-year-old schoolgirl.
Pinder was then convicted of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman several months later.
The following year, he faced his third conviction for raping a 16-year-old girl at his residence after offering her a lift home from a bus stop.
He was playing for the Perth Wildcats during this entire period.
Bob Williams has admitted to knowing about complaints against Pinder during his tenure as owner of the Perth Wildcats
The Perth Wildcats were going broke when Williams took over as owner, turning the club around until they moved into the larger Perth Entertainment Centre (pictured) in 1990
Perth businessman Bob Williams was the owner of the Wildcats from 1986 until he sold the team to media mogul Kerry Stokes in 1990.
Stokes handed the reins to Aussie basketball legend Luc Longley during the 1999/2000 season and has not been implicated in any alleged wrongdoing.
Williams has previously admitted that he knew about the allegations against Pinder before his arrest and conviction in 1992.
'A father of a young woman visited me in my office on St George's Terrace,' he told The West Australian newspaper.
'I think she was only a teenager – maybe 12, 13, 14 … and she told me that Tiny had interfered with her.
'We thought we could lay down the rules — it was so important for him to be a member of the team — that he'd toe the line.'
Shine Lawyers solicitor Lisa Flynn, who is handling Sarah's case as she pursues a civil claim against the Wildcats' original private owner, suggests this acknowledgment could serve as evidence indicating Williams' awareness of Pinder's predatory conduct.
Mike Ellis (left) was the captain of the Perth Wildcats at the time and said the players had no idea Pinder was a sexual predator
Pinder was sensationally arrested during a semi-final in 1990, but was allowed to play on and would help the club win the 1991 championship (pictured)
The ABC has reported that the woman has now accused Pinder of ruining her life.
Now 51, she did not report the attack at the time out of fear.
'He stripped me of any confidence that I had,' she alleged.
'Before he attacked me, I was successful at school, good grades, I was successful in a few different sports – state level. And I was loving my life … he just took it all from me.
'I think it's time to finally stand up for 15-year-old me.'
Williams has confirmed that he has received a letter of demand from Shine Lawyers, but he declined to comment when contacted by the ABC.
Pinder pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm during an arraignment hearing in Sydney on April 26.
The first assault occurred in November 2009, involving forceful penetration without consent, resulting in severe injuries requiring surgery and a blood transfusion.
The second incident took place in March 2021, when the victim awakened to Pinder assaulting her.
Ellis would return to coach the Perth Wildcats and says the Pinder convictions put a 'black cloud' over what should have been glory years for the club
Mike Ellis was the Wildcats captain in 1990 and he told Triple M in 2022 that the playing group had no idea their teammate was a sexual predator.
'You don't always know what the players do away from you, away from the team,' he said.
'We knew he was out and about, he loved going to the clubs and all those things.
'We just didn't know the sinister nature of it and that was really sad.
'When that started to really come out it just really put a cloud over the club and it was really disappointing.'
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