Michael Ross bowling for Broadstairs against Folkestone in July 2011

by Paul Hooper

A Kent League cricketer has avoided going straight to prison after molesting a young schoolgirl at a bus stop.

Michael Ross, 26, who plays for Broadstairs, was suspended by the English Cricket Board after his arrest.

But a judge spared him an immediate jail sentence on Friday after he admitted sexually assaulting the 12-year-old.

Ross, of Greenfield Road, Ramsgate, wept throughout the hearing, which was attended by his girlfriend and parents.

His barrister Philip Rowley told Canterbury Crown Court how the talented sportsman was at college with plans to be coach and a sports physiotherapist.

But a Sexual Offence Prevention Order - which will run for the next 10 years - now means he cannot work with children and he has to sign the Sexual Offenders' Register.

The judge told the cricketer: "You have now lost your good character, your career prospects and your sport, cricket, which I am told you are good at."

Richard Wingfield, prosecuting, said Ross had been driving in Ramsgate when he spotted the schoolgirl, who was in uniform, at a bus stop.

He pretended he needed directions and persuaded the child to get into his car, where he kissed her and then sexually assaulted her.

"you knew what you were doing because you thought about it and pretended that you needed directions…” – judge james o'mahoney

Judge James O'Mahony told him: "This is a very serious offence involving a 12-year-old schoolgirl at a bus stop - someone who was vulnerable.

"You knew what you were doing because you thought about it and pretended that you needed directions. Then you assaulted her.

"The only good thing is that when she told you to stop, you did stop."

In passing a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, the judge told him: "My primary concern is not for you but for the protection of children."

He said current sentencing guidelines posed "a judicial conundrum", which would prevent Ross from facing a long sentence.

"The fact is that you would just be in prison for a matter of months - so whatever I do I cannot eliminate the risk you pose."

Instead, he ordered the student to undergo treatment for his sexual offending - and was banned from leaving his home during school hours for the next six months.

"That I believe is the best chance of eliminating the risk of you doing this sort of thing again," the judge added.