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Former Grand Slam doubles tennis champion Bob Hewitt was sentenced to six years in prison by a South African court on Monday after being found guilty of rape and assault on underage girls.
The Australia born star was sentenced to six years after the court found him guilty for rape and assault on minor girls he coached in the 1980s and 1990s.
Bob, 75, had pleaded not guilty to the two charges that were brought against him by three women back in 2013.
Bob won numerous Grand Slam doubles titles during his career in the 1960s and 1970s and was named to International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1992.
His name was removed from the hall of fame in 2012, following sexual abuse allegations.
Judge Bert Bam sentenced him to six years imprisonment stating that if he had been 50 years when convicted, he would have served 20 years in jail, adding that Bob was solely to blame for his fate.
His wife Delaille tried to plied with the judge to release his husband saying, ” “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,” she said, sobbing with grief.
Hewitt is expected to appeal against his conviction and sentence.
