Bob Hewitt denied bid for ‘house arrest’

CONVICTED paedophile Bob Hewitt has been refused the opportunity to convert his prison sentence to house arrest, after the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) parole board confirmed yesterday it had dismissed his application.

In early October, Independent Media reported how Hewitt, a former South African doubles tennis champion, was in the process of applying to have his prison sentence converted to house arrest, eliciting outrage from anti-abuse organisations and the three women whom he raped or molested when they were children in the 1980s and 1990s.

In a landmark judgment on historical abuse, Hewitt was found guilty on two counts of rape and one of sexual assault in March 2015, and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Despite not yet being eligible for parole, Hewitt applied to the parole board for the sentence conversion, with the complainants arguing that house arrest would essentially be the same as parole for Hewitt.

For the past seven weeks, each of his victims has been asked to assist in compiling statements against his newest application, with each calling on the DCS to ensure the 78-year-old stays behind bars for his full sentence.

Several anti-abuse organisations – including Women and Men Against Child Abuse, who monitored Hewitt’s criminal trial, The Teddy Bear Foundation (TTBF), the Child Justice Advocacy Forum and the Reeva Steenkamp Foundation – have all condemned the application.

Last week, Oscar Pistorius’ lawyer, Barry Roux, had joined the legal team opposing the application, alongside Peter van Niekerk, Eversheds Sutherland attorney and director at TTBF.

Yesterday, Van Niekerk said a DCS official had confirmed the denial. “All of our clients are delighted… .” .