Former top-100 tennis player to serve four years in prison for sexual abuse of students

The District Court in Amsterdam has sentenced 50-year-old tennis coach Dennis van Scheppingen to three and a half years in prison, including ten months conditionally suspended, for sexually abusing two of his students. He has also been barred from coaching for eight years. The victims, who are brothers, came forward after one filed a report in 2022, leading police to reach out to the other. Van Scheppingen was convicted of rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse of a minor.

Van Scheppingen, a former professional player, was once ranked in the world’s top 100. The victims are brothers. In 2009, the elder moved in with Van Scheppingen and his family to get away from problems at home. Prosecutors say Van Scheppingen cut him off from the outside world and repeatedly abused him during training and at tournaments abroad.

Years later, Van Scheppingen also coached the boy’s brother, who is ten years younger. The former pro sexually abused the boy when he was underage. The younger brother reported the abuse to police in 2021, leading investigators to reach out to his sibling as well. Van Scheppingen was arrested in 2022 but was later released while awaiting trial. Both victims are accomplished tennis players.

“The court condemns you for exploiting your role as a tennis coach. The victims admired you because of your past success as a professional player,” the judge said to Van Scheppingen.

The court noted that the victims were reliant on Van Scheppingen, who took advantage of this to fulfill his own sexual desires. “The victims feared that refusing his advances could severely, even disastrously, affect their tennis careers and the financial support for them,” the court said.

The Dutch tennis federation, KNLTB, has issued a disciplinary measure against Van Scheppingen, preventing him, among other things, from entering the federation’s tennis facilities.

The defendant had partially confessed to the charges, admitting to sexual acts with the older brother but insisting they were consensual. Prosecutors had recommended a four-year prison term, including six months conditionally suspended.

Shortly after moving in with the couple, the older victim entered into a romantic relationship with Van Scheppingen's then-wife. Van Scheppingen called the situation “complex,” saying he managed by immersing himself in his work. “They were completely in love,” he said in a previous court hearing. He also claimed that his wife was unaware he was having sexual relations with his student. The victim lived with Van Scheppingen and his wife until 2018.