Former S. African tennis star Bob Hewitt sentenced to six years in jail

Retired South African tennis player and coach Bob Hewitt was sentenced to an effective six years in jail here on Monday for charge of raping and sexual assault.

The former player, 75, was found guilty of three charges, including two counts of rape and one of sexual assault.

On Count 1, for rape, he received an eight-year jail sentence, suspended for two years on condition that he pay 50,000 Rand to the department of justice to use in campaigns against violence against women.

On Count 2, also for rape, he received the same sentence.

On the charge of sexual assault, he received two years suspended.

"There are clearly no prospects of rehabilitation...The effective period of imprisonment is six years," announced Judge Bert Bam in the High Court in Pretoria.

In March this year, the Australian-born South African Grand Slam holder was found guilty of raping Suellen Sheehan and Theresa Tolken in the 1980s, as well as for sexually assaulting a third woman, who chose to remain anonymous, in the 1990s.

The three victims testified during his trial, saying that he took advantage of them when he was their tennis coach. One of them said that Hewitt had assaulted her when she was just 12 years old.

Judge Bam went into great detail about the seriousness of rape but also took Hewitt' s age and health into consideration.

Hewitt has had a stroke, operations on his knees, shoulders and Achilles tendons.

"If he had been convicted in his 50s, he would have received at least a 20-year jail term," Bam said.

The judge said justice must be seen to be done, even for ageing offenders, adding that Hewitt was not terminally ill and could be treated in prison for his heart condition.

He also emphasised that the two children who were raped were at a tender age, a most aggravating circumstance and also criticised Hewitt for showing no remorse.

Earlier, Hewitt's wife Delaille Hewitt had begged that he not be sent to prison.

"My Lord, I have never had to beg before but I am asking you from the bottom of my heart to please let my husband return to the farm as I could not survive without him," sobbed Delaille Hewitt.

Hewitt will appear in court again on Tuesday, when his legal team will apply for leave to appeal the conviction and sentence.

The victims said they were disappointed, and were hoping the case would have come to an end today.

South African NGO Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) said the rape trial could be a landmark case for victims who take many years to come forward.

Born in January, 1940, Hewitt is a former professional tennis player from Australia. In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen.

Hewitt achieved 7 titles in singles and 65 in doubles, including winning all Grand Slam doubles titles, both in men's and mixed doubles and being central to South Africa's only Davis Cup title in 1974.

His highest ranking was World No. 6 in 1967. In 1992, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, but was indefinitely suspended from it following his sexual harassment investigation in November 2012. Endi