Newport International Tennis Hall of Fame Expels Bob Hewitt after Rape Conviction

NEWPORT, RI—The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport has expelled tennis legend Bob Hewitt after his conviction of rape and sexual assault in South Africa last year in March.

The hall of fame said in a statement that Hewitt, 76, has been expelled as of Wednesday.

"The expulsion is a result of a conviction against Hewitt on two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault‚" the Hall of Fame said in the statement. "The conviction was issued by a South African court in March 2015‚ and the appellate courts have now denied the right to further appeals of the conviction."

Hewitt, best known as a skilled doubles player and the winner of nine doubles Grand Slam titles, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992. He was indefinitely suspended in 2012 after a 2011 report by The Boston Globe that Hewitt sexually assaulted a young girl and tennis student of his assistant coach.

"Upon his suspension in 2012‚ his Hall of Fame plaque and all references to him among the Hall of Famers were immediately removed," ITHOF said.

Hewitt was sentenced to six years by a South African Judge last year. He was found guilty of raping three women when they were teenagers in the 80s and 90s.

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