Convicted rapist Bob Hewitt has been ordered to pay nearly R16.6 million ($1.2m) in damages to one of his victims who lives in the United States.
The former doubles tennis champion was convicted this year in a Johannesburg court on two counts of rape and one of sexual assault for abusing his tennis students decades ago.
While he was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay R100 000 to fund anti-abuse campaigns, he is confined to his home at Addo in the Eastern Cape while he awaits the outcome of an appeal.
Meanwhile: The Boston Globe reports that Heather Crowe Conner, a Massachusetts woman, has won her civil case against 75-year-old Hewitt after accusing him of sexually abusing her in the 1970s while he was her tennis coach.
The newspaper reports that Judge Denise Casper had ruled that the sexual assaults began in 1975, when Conner was 14, and lasted until 1979.
The judge ordered Hewitt to pay $1m for Conner’s emotional distress and $200 000 for her past and future mental health care.
She gave Hewitt until the 2nd of November to show why he should not pay the default judgment.
