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Father of Australian tennis star accused of child abuse

FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2005, file photo, Nikolaos Philippoussis sits in the stands watching his son, Mark Philippoussis, play in the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth, Australia. A San Diego County sheriff's official says the father of a retired Australian tennis star has been arrested on suspicion of molesting two children, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The newspaper says Nikolaos Philippoussis, 68, a tennis coach, was taken into custody at his home on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. The Union-Tribune reports that officials said the two victims were under age 14 and were students of Philippoussis. Mark Philippoussis was once ranked eighth in the world. (AP Photo/Mark Ralston, File )
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2005, file photo, Nikolaos Philippoussis sits in the stands watching his son, Mark Philippoussis, play in the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth, Australia. A San Diego County sheriff's official says the father of a retired Australian tennis star has been arrested on suspicion of molesting two children, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The newspaper says Nikolaos Philippoussis, 68, a tennis coach, was taken into custody at his home on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. The Union-Tribune reports that officials said the two victims were under age 14 and were students of Philippoussis. Mark Philippoussis was once ranked eighth in the world. (AP Photo/Mark Ralston, File ) FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2005, file photo, Nikolaos Philippoussis sits in the stands watching his son, Mark Philippoussis, play in the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth, Australia. A San Diego County sheriff's official says the father of a retired Australian tennis star has been arrested on suspicion of molesting two children, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The newspaper says Nikolaos Philippoussis, 68, a tennis coach, was taken into custody at his home on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. The Union-Tribune reports that officials said the two victims were under age 14 and were students of Philippoussis. Mark Philippoussis was once ranked eighth in the world. (AP Photo/Mark Ralston, File )

By Associated Press 2 min read

SAN DIEGO (AP) – The father of retired Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis was being held on $2.5 million bail Wednesday in San Diego after being arrested on suspicion of molesting two children.

Nikolaos Philippoussis, 68, is a personal tennis coach and the two alleged victims were his students, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

He was jailed on multiple counts, including lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14 years old and sexual intercourse/sodomy with a child 10 years old or younger.

Authorities have found no indication that the elder Philippoussis was affiliated with a tennis school and did not know how many students he had, said sheriff’s Lt. Greg Rylaarsdam. He declined to identify the genders of the two alleged victims or their exact ages.

“We’re in the midst of this thing, not the end of it,” Rylaarsdam said.