HE FLED OVERSEAS… THEN KEPT WORKING AROUND YOUNG PEOPLE 💥 HOW DARREN ADAM ABELA ALLEGEDLY HID IN PLAIN SIGHT FOR YEARS BEFORE ADMITTING H0RRIFIC CHILD S3-X CRIMES
Disgraced Melbourne netball coach Darren Adam Abela fled overseas to a sex-tourism hotspot when concerns were first raised about his interactions with girls.
Abela, 50, pleaded guilty last week to multiple counts of committing an indecent act with a child and sexual penetration of a child under 16.
The offences occurred while Abela was coach of the Westside Saints, the representative team of the St Albans Caroline Springs Netball Association (SACSNA), between 2013 and 2014.
The Daily Mail understands a victim was a former player coached by Abela.
Following his guilty plea, sources revealed that Abela previously ‘disappeared’ from the club around 2020 or 2021, fleeing to the Philippines.
At the time of his exit, the club paid tribute to Abela in a social media post. Abela is also understood to have recorded a video message in which he told players he had to fly out immediately, without providing details of what made him leave the country.
He would later return to Australia with a Filipino woman, and witnesses say they saw him coaching at the Saints again in 2023 and, briefly, 2025.
Additional details have also emerged about Abela’s tenure at SACSNA, including that he was given life membership despite some in the community hearing rumours about his sexual offending.
Disgraced Melbourne netball coach Darren Adam Abela fled overseas to a sex-tourism hotspot when concerns were first raised about his interactions with girls
SACSNA even had a medal called the ‘Darren Abela Award’, which was given to top players
SACSNA even had a medal called the ‘Darren Abela Award’, which was given to top players.
The association has distanced itself from the former coach since he admitted multiple child sex crimes at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last Friday.
The Daily Mail does not suggest SACSNA administrators were aware of his offending when he was granted life membership or had an award named in his honour.
Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity described Abela as a predator who hid in plain sight, both within netball circles and the broader community.
For example, he is said to have owned and operated a pizza restaurant in Melton, where he employed young female netballers over a period of several years.
We have been told that he coached two games for the Saints in early 2025, which apparently baffled some involved in the club.
‘We all thought, “What the hell is Darren Abela doing here with young girls around?”‘ a person formerly associated with the Saints told the Mail.
A netball mum lashed SACSNA for ‘enabling the monster that was’ Abela.
Since his guilty plea, sources revealed that Abela once previously ‘disappeared’ from the Westside Saints club around 2020 or 2021, fleeing to the Philippines
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Meanwhile, sources indicate this won’t be the only scandal to engulf netball in the state, with rumblings of another coach receiving a lifetime ban from Netball Victoria.
Victoria Police told the Mail that investigators were still seeking information regarding the other coach, whom we have chosen not to name because no charges have been laid.
In late 2024, Abela reappeared on the coaching scene at the Melton Bloods, but was gone by early 2025.
The Mail understands the Bloods were not aware of Abela’s crimes, and there was no misconduct during his brief and minimal contact time with the club.
‘They had absolutely no idea,’ a source said.
Abela is said to have once again gone to the Philippines after the police investigation into his child sex crimes fired up early last year. However, he was back in Australia when the Mail saw him in person in court on Friday, May 29.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, SACSNA attempted to distance itself from Abela and his time as the association’s coach of the Westside Saints.
SACSNA also called out what it characterised as inaccurate media reporting by Mail while also claiming that Abela had nothing to do with the Saints in a decade.
However, multiple parents disputed this on social media, saying they had seen Abela at the club more recently than that. The comments were eventually shut down and the post was deleted.
He would later return to Australia with a Filipino woman, and witnesses say they saw him coaching at the Saints again in 2023 and, briefly, 2025
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In an earlier Facebook post from 2021, which has also since been deleted, the Saints paid tribute to Abela when he departed his post.
‘Darren, along with his dedicated coaching team, [has] grown and developed Westside into one of the most desirable and successful clubs in our area,’ it read.
‘His guidance and mentorship [have] helped many, past and present players, to progress their pathways through elite levels.
‘Enabling opportunities to be selected into Academies, VNL [Victorian Netball League], ANL, state and international teams.
‘All of us at SACSNA and Westside would like to thank Darren for his years of dedication and coaching expertise.
‘He will be sincerely missed and we wish him well on his next journey.’
Abela, of Hopetoun Park, a suburb near Bacchus Marsh in the state’s west, will face a pre-sentence hearing at the County Court at a later date.
SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15972349/darren-adam-abela-netball-coach-child-sex-crimes-philippines-award-pizza-shop.html
