Shain Germaner
JOHANNESBURG: Convicted paedophile and former tennis icon, Bob Hewitt, was on Thursday denied his appeal on a six-year prison sentence for raping two of the women as children, and molesting the third as a teenager.
Even though he was sentenced for his decades-old crimes in June 2015, the thought of a successful appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) has haunted Theresa “Twiggy” Tolken for almost a year.
Tolken, the lynchpin in the State’s case, held on to a series of inappropriate letters he wrote to her when she was just 12.
The letters were likely a major factor in High Court Judge Bert Bam’s decision to convict the now 76-year-old.
Tolken told the Cape Times’ sister newspaper The Star yesterday of the filing cabinet she kept in her New Zealand home.
This was filled with the news- paper cuttings and other documentation relating to the case.
A constant reminder of her abuse. “Thirty-five, no thirty-six years later, I can finally clear out that cabinet...” she said.
“This is a milestone for (survivors of abuse), to show you can speak out, even years later.”
Meanwhile, in Joburg, the second complainant – who has asked not to be named – shared her elation with The Star. “This is vindication to the Nth degree…Today marks the end of the toughest six years of my life,” she said.
In Durban, the third complainant, who cannot be named by order of the courts, said: “I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am with the outcome.”
Hewitt’s lawyer Johann Engelbrecht said: “We were hoping for a sentence that would not entail incarceration.”