French tennis coach on trial for rape

One of France’s most respected tennis coaches raped young female players attending the academy he used to run in Saint-Tropez, a court has heard.

Regis de Camaret, 70, was known for spotting tennis prospects who trained at his centre in Marres on the Riviera, including Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat and former French number two Isabelle Demongeot.

But doubts about how he groomed teenagers for stardom first surfaced in 2005, when Miss Demongeot, filed for charges saying he had regularly raped her from the age of 13 to 22.

She recounted the alleged abuses in a book called Service Volé (Stolen Service).

Since then, dozens of other female players who trained with Mr Camaret have come forward claiming he raped, fondled or was inappropriate with them.

Miss Demongeot wrote that she had “endured a form of manipulation that I could not fight” for years, while others explained he had a Svengali-like hold over them, explaining why none spoke of the alleged abuse.

In 2009, an appeals court in Aix-en-Provence ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge Mr Carnaret, but the ruling was subsequently overturned.

The statute of limitations has run out on all but two former players: Stéphanie Carrouguet and Karine Pomarès, both 36, who yesterday accused him of rape and attempted rape — charges that could see the Lyon court sentence him to 20 years if found guilty.

Mr Camaret denied the rape accusations, but admitted to having committed a “huge error” with Miss Carrouguet when helping her with her homework when she was 12.

Saying she was infatuated with him, he told the court: “I made the mistake of allowing her to come and show me her feelings” by allowing her to sit naked on his knees.

“I pushed her off and it stopped there. I didn’t abuse her,” he said.

He went back on earlier testimony in which he told police he had “touched up and caressed” Miss Carrouguet, saying he had spoken under duress.

He said he had committed “no inappropriate gestures” with Miss Pomarès, aged 14 at the time of the events in 1990.

He said other women had accused him belatedly driven by “extraordinary hatred” for being “failed hopefuls” who never made it to “top level” tennis.