An Activist from Women and Men against Child Abuse (WMACA), Luke Lamprecht, says there is no proof that convicted rapist and former tennis star Bob Hewitt can be rehabilitated.
The 79-year-old has been granted parole and will be released on April 24.
He has served three years of his six year sentence for two counts of rape and one of indecent assault.
The Correctional Supervision and Parole Board conducted his parole hearing in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
Hewitt was convicted for raping two young girls he was coaching in the 1980s and 1990s and sentenced to six years in prison in 2016.
Lamprecht says the justice system is continuing to fail victims.
“So in terms of this individual case based on what we were then and what we have been developed into legally, this case remains an absolute landmark. He remains a convicted child sex offender, on the sex offenders register and the fact that he has got parole without rehabilitation talks to the failure of our system to recognise the reasons for parole and we see those reasons everywhere.”
In the video below, SABC’s Lerato Fekisi reports on Bob Hewitt’s parole:
Parole dismissed
In October last year, the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board dismissed an application by the convicted rapist and former tennis star for parole.
In September, Hewitt was set to be released on parole.
However, this was put on hold after Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola called for a review, after learning that Hewitt’s victims were not consulted.
The video below, documents Bob Hewitt’s sentencing:
Rape
In February 2015, one of Bob Hewitt’s victim’s revealed details about the rape during the trial at the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge.
Hewitt coached her in the early 1990s.
In the video below, one of Bob Hewitt’s victims speaks about the rape:
