Ex-tennis player Hewitt to face sex-abuse allegations

FORMER GRAND Slam doubles champion Bob Hewitt has been served a summons to appear in a South African court to face allegations he sexually abused young girls he coached decades ago, prosecutors told the Associated Press yesterday.

South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said the summons was served to the 73-year-old Hewitt last Saturday. Hewitt was ordered to appear at Boksburg Magistrate's Court near Johannesburg on Aug. 16.

The NPA would not detail the charges against Hewitt. NPA spokeswoman Phindi Louw said Hewitt, who is believed to live in the town of Addo on South Africa's south coast, would be informed of the charges when he appears in court.

Hewitt denied all the accusations when contacted by the AP in a telephone interview.

Hewitt confirmed that he had received the summons and would "of course" appear in court, but wouldn't say what the charges were, as "they had not been made public."

"I'll keep it private," he said. "I'm innocent of all charges and these accusations have caused untold hardship on my family."

Hewitt also said he intended to sue his accusers.

Hewitt has been at the center of a long investigation into accusations he abused and raped girls from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Two of Hewitt's alleged victims, Suellen Sheehan and Twiggy Tolken, accuse him of abusing them when he was their coach in South Africa.

Sheehan, now 44, asked South African police to open an investigation in 2011, and accuses Hewitt of raping her when she was 12.

Tolken, who is 45 and lives in New Zealand, said Hewitt also began abusing her when she was 12.

A third woman, Heather Conner, of West Newbury, Mass., also accuses Hewitt of abuse. Conner said she was sexually abused from the age of 15, being forced to have sex with him near a high school in Massachusetts.

All three women have agreed to be named.

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