Former professional cricket player Aaron Summers pleads guilty to caring crimes and possession of child abuse material

A former professional cricket player and once a Big Bash League player has pleaded guilty to childcare charges and possession of child abuse material.

The Northern Territory Supreme Court heard that Aaron Summers, 25, was using his professional athlete status to build trust with victims and solicit sexual material from them through Snapchat and Instagram.

Fast bowler Summers played professional cricket at the state level in Tasmania, India and once in Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League.

He was the first Australian cricket player to play in a domestic cricket competition in Pakistan and played matches in Karachi and Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

Crown Prosecutor Hannah White described Summers’ actions as “predatory, emotional and thoughtful.”

“She participated in sexual conversations with them and asked them to send sexual pictures of herself.”

Summers pleaded guilty to seven charges, including possession and transmission of child abuse material and communication with a person under the age of 16 with the intent to induce the recipient to engage in or engage in sexual activity.

The charges concern several victims, including two young boys who were 12 and 13 years old at the time of the crime.

The court heard that Summers knew all the victims personally because he participated in cricket in Darwin.

Victim’s police mother ‘destroyed’

Two statements of the victim’s influence were read to the court, one from the mother of a 13-year-old boy who is himself a senior police officer in Northern Territory Police.

The woman called Summers a “monster” and described the day she learned of the crime, “the worst day of her life.”

“Imagine a police officer in the Northern Territory waking you up in the middle of the night, knocking on our doors and informing us that a pedophile infiltrated our home and insulted our beautiful innocent 13-year-old son,” the statement said.

“The idea that my special training wasn’t enough to save my son from a monster like Aaron Summers is devastating.”

He said Summers had taken away his son’s innocence, and he should be ashamed.

Another victim impact statement, from the mother of a 13-year-old victim, described how her son lost interest in school work and progressed from family, friends, and teachers after the crime.

Defense attorney Matthew Hubber told the court that Summers cooperated with the investigators, reported full information to police, and had expressed remorse.

He asked for a partial adjournment of Summers’ verdict and asked that he be allowed to live with his parents, who were present in court, in Western Australia.

The case was adjourned for a psychological report before a verdict was handed down in December, and Summers remained in custody.