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Former French tennis player Angelique Cauchy recently testified against her childhood coach and convicted child rapist Andrew Gueddes.
In 2021, the tennis coach was found guilty of sexually assaulting four teenage girls in France and was handed an 18-year sentence. He started training Cauchy at the Sarcelles Tennis Club in the year 1999, when she was only 12.
Cauchy recently shared details of her ordeal with an inquiry body that was formed in July this year. The aim of the body is to pinpoint the ‘shortcomings within sports federations, the sport movement, and sports governance bodies.
"I thought many times about committing suicide. He raped me three times a day. The first night he asked me to go to his room and I didn't do it, then he came into mine. It was worse. I was in prison, I couldn't get out when I wanted to," she said at Palais Bourbon, the French parliament (via Marca.)
Cauchy added that Gueddes exploited her during a 15-day camp that was held in the western city of France, La Baule. She also recalled the number of steps that separated her room from Gueddes' and termed them the '13 steps of horror' in her testimony.
Cauchy further remarked that Gueddes told her he was suffering from AIDS, which made her spend her younger days in fear of contracting the ailment.
"I lived between 13 and 18 years old thinking I had AIDS," she said.
Cauchy, who is now a physical education teacher and a tennis coach herself, had also told France Info that she was sexually harassed by Gueddes almost 200 times a year.
The tennis club president defended Andrew Gueddes, says Angelique Cauchy
Angelique Cauchy said that the Sarcelles Tennis Club president knew about Andrew Gueddes' conduct but opted to defend him. According to Cauchy, the president refrained from taking any action against the coach, saying that he won trophies for the club.
"It was known in the tennis world that his behavior with young girls was not correct. When a woman complained to the club president, the answer was, 'Yes, but he brings us titles'," she said.
Cauchy also said she herself wasn't aware but the people around told her that Gueddes dated multiple women.
"I'm not talking about me because I didn't know. But, for the others, there were always those who said, 'Yes, he's with..., he's dating...' But at 38, you don't go out with a girl of 15, let alone when you're training her."
READ: An American player who quit tennis and became a nun due to sexual harassment
