Shain Germaner
THE anti-abuse organisation that helped secure the rape conviction against former tennis champion Bob Hewitt believes the allegations that some victims may have colluded is a last-ditch attempt by his defence to “keep him out of prison”.
Yesterday, the SABC reported that three of the women who accused Hewitt of raping and sexually assaulting them may have colluded, citing a series of documents showing they communicated prior to the trial.
Hewitt was convicted on two counts of rape and one of sexual assault for allegedly raping two of his former tennis students in the 1980s, while molesting another in the 1990s. The 75-year-old was later sentenced to six years in prison, but has been granted an extension of his bail pending his appeal.
Yesterday, Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) released its own statement against the SABC’s report. “The only tactic left for Hewitt’s defence lawyers is to attack and discredit the victims – again,” said Germaine Vogel, WMACA spokesperson.
“After their many efforts to undermine these women in court, they now resort to using the media to shame them even more. Hewitt has shown no remorse for his deeds and now clearly displays a total lack of consideration for the victims.
“Let us not forget that when Heather Conner (in the US) disclosed her abuse at the hands of Hewitt, the other victims, realising they were not the only ones, naturally made contact with each other and shared experiences, but that is not collusion – at no point was there a secret strategy discussed or planned for a trial.
“‘What does it say about our society when we blame and shame the victims, instead of the offender who was found guilty in a court of law?”
The SABC report also revealed correspondence between one of the complainants and prosecutor on the case, Carina Coetzee, that indicated the lawyer threatened to remove the complainant from the case if she continued to speak with the media.
Director of WMACA, Miranda Friedmann, also weighed in on the matter. “Surely this man (Hewitt) now needs to accept the fact that he is in fact a child abuser. He is not in the celebrity spotlight anymore. It’s time the defence stopped these despicable tactics, which is certainly of great financial benefit to themselves.”
Hewitt’s lawyer, Johann Engelbrecht, has emphatically denied leaking the documents. When questioned about WMACA’s implication that the defence was responsible for leaking the e-mails, he said: “Shut up, that’s rubbish… They (WMACA) must be careful, I have no issue with suing them for defamation of character.”
Meanwhile, the National Prosecuting Authority is probing the matter and spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said the organisation stood behind Coetzee, saying her conduct with the complainants was totally ethical.