An agency nurse has been convicted of sexually assaulting a man.

Sancho De Leon was working for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust when the incident happened.

The victim was alone in a room looking at football results on his phone when the married 44-year-old joined him and began making conversation.

De Leon leant over to see what he was reading, before moving a hand onto the man's knee and rubbing his thigh with the other.

Paul Lund, prosecuting, explained how, shocked at the advance, the victim made an excuse and went to get a coffee.

But De Leon pursued him, rubbing his crotch area and squeezing his bottom.

Giving evidence from behind a screen at a trial at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court, the man said: "It made me uncomfortable but I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on until it happened again when I was standing up.

"I was shocked. It is hard to imagine yourself being assaulted sexually."

He said De Leon laughed when he pushed him away and told him to stop, at which point the victim left the room and reported the incident.

De Leon, who lives in Melville Court, Chatham, with his family, admitted being in the room but denied sexual assault.

The court was told the victim invented the claims.

But deputy district judge Adrian Turner said he found the victim’s evidence "compelling and completely believable".

He added: "It is a very disturbing case and a very sad, if not tragic, one.

"Perhaps De Leon was affected by the stresses and strains of his shift and acting in the belief no adverse circumstances would follow from his actions. Boy he was wrong."

De Leon was given a community order, including 160 hours community service and a 20 day rehabilitation requirement.

He must also pay his victim £250 compensation and sign the sex offenders register for five years.