A vulnerable university student was molested by a home tutor after she went to him for help in preparing for exams, a court heard.

Gopalan Srinivasan was said to have had "a moment of insanity" when he touched the woman's breasts and thigh while asking her questions about the subject they were discussing.

But a judge told the 58-year-old she was able to suspend "the inevitable sentence of imprisonment".

Maidstone Crown Court heard the victim suffered from disabilities including sight and hearing problems.

An agency put her in touch with a Cambridge graduate and she went to see him last August.

Prosecutor Trevor Wright said the student’s mother took her to Otham House in Angelica Square, Maidstone, and were somewhat surprised to find Srinivasan and not the tutor they were expecting.

The mother was going to sit in with her daughter but he told her to wait in another room.

“While giving the tutorial he patted and rubbed her back,” said Mr Wright. “He put his arms around her. She thought he was merely a tactile person.

“While explaining about organic chemistry he touched her on the shoulders and then down to her breasts over her clothing, all the while asking questions about the subject they were discussing.

"It must have been frightening for her... I have no doubt you took advantage in part because she had disabilities" - Judge Adele Williams

“She didn’t know what to do. She put herself nearer to the desk to shield he breasts.

“She put her arms over her breasts. He started prodding her on her thigh.

“She told him she had a fuzzy head to get away. The lesson lasted two hours and payment was made.

“On the way home she told her mother what had happened.”

When they arrived home she told her father and he contacted the agency and the police.

When interviewed, Srinivasan, of Otham House, claimed it had been made clear he would be taking the session and not his son.

He denied sexual assault at magistrates’ court but was convicted.

Srinivasan launched an appeal but abandoned it when he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court.

Daniel Stephenson, defending, said: “This was a moment of insanity.”

Suspending 15 months imprisonment for two years and imposing 80 hours unpaid work, Judge Adele Williams told him: “You had the good sense to abandon your appeal.

“What you did was wholly unacceptable.

“Your victim was a young woman in your charge.

“You touched her sexually, which is not only wholly unacceptable, it must have been frightening for her.

“I have no doubt you took advantage in part because she had disabilities.”

Under a sexual harm prevention order Srinivasan will have to be accompanied by an adult while tutoring.