Former Hobart Hurricanes fast bowler Aaron William Summers has been jailed for sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl he met at a Big Bash League match in Hobart.
Summers was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, with 20 months suspended, meaning he will serve 10 months behind bars.
Tasmanian Supreme Court Justice Helen Wood said Summers used his prominence as a sportsperson to reach young people.
Summers was 21 and contracted to the Hurricanes when he met the girl and her friends at a game in Hobart in December 2017.
At another match on January 15 2018, they spoke over the boundary line and added each other on Instagram and Snapchat.
The next day, Summers picked the girl up and drove her to a school at night, where he laid down a doona and sexually abused her on two occasions.
Justice Wood said Summers knew the girl was in Grade 9 or 10 and under the age of consent.
“She was only 15 and did not have the life experience to realise sex … was all that he was interested in,” she said.
Summers continued messaging the girl afterward and sent her naked photos, with their last contact in early 2021.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a child and one count of grooming with intent to expose a child to indecent material.
Summers was extradited to Tasmania from the Northern Territory, where he had served three years and 11 months for possessing and transmitting child exploitation material and intending to procure someone under 16 for sexual activity.
Those crimes involved three boys known to Summers through cricket, the court was told.
The girl came forward to Tasmanian police in 2021 after seeing a news report about his NT offending.
Justice Wood said Summers’ career as a professional cricketer was now over.
She said it was important to send a broader message.
“As a community we look up to sportspeople. Young people are particularly likely to admire them,” she said.
She said other sportspeople should be aware that “heavy punishment” was to be expected if they took advantage of children.
