Held on rape charge

UK tennis player held on rape charge

A talented British tennis player has been arrested by US police on suspicion of raping a woman at a party.

Chris Doerr is a student at Mississippi State University and plays in the college team.

He is being held in Mississippi after a 20-year-old woman claimed on Sunday that she had been assaulted at Doerr's apartment in Starkville over the weekend.

According to reports, police in Oktibbeha County said the 20-year-old, from Orpington, Kent, was released from jail on Tuesday after bail of £33,000 was paid.

The sportsman also faces a charge of supplying beer to a minor. Drinking is illegal for those under 21 in the southern US state.

Doerr, who attended Coopers Technology College in Chislehurst, has reached number 11 in the English national rankings and 420 in the world, according to the American college tennis website.

According to reports, Doerr's father, Richard, flew to Mississippi on Sunday.

His younger brother, Michael, said his parents were distraught and added: "None of us can believe it and, as his brother, I can tell you he's just not that kind of guy.

"He's got too much to lose. He loves America and has worked so hard for what he's got and it would not make any sense for him to throw it away.

"He's going through every man's worst nightmare."

George Carrithers, chief deputy for the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Department, said deputies were called to the Oktibbeha County Hospital on Sunday "to talk to a female about a sexual assault".

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