Former Hobart Hurricanes cricketer Aaron Summers to be jailed on child sexual abuse charges

Former Hobart Hurricanes and Tasmania Cricketer, Aaron Summers, is set to face jail time for sexually abusing a teenage girl whom he met when he was a player.

Summers had pleaded not guilty to two charges of 'penetrative sexual abuse of a child and grooming with the intent of exposing a child to indecent material' in September of 2025 but has changed his stance to guilty following a hearing on Friday, Jun 26.

The incident took place on January 16, 2018, when the player was part of the Hurricanes team. Summers, 21 at the time, reportedly met the girl, then aged 15, when she and her friends took a photo with the player after a Hurricanes game. The Supreme Court of Tasmania heard that Summers, knowing the victim was underage, continued messaging her on social media and went over to her house at night to pick her up. The prosecutor for the case told the court that they drove to a school, where Summers abused the victim. Grooming charges were levied on Summers with respect to maintenance of contact with the victim until 2021.

Summers' lawyer, Caroline Graves, told the court that the incident occurred at a "difficult time" for her client, during which he was socially isolated and relied heavily on social media. She argued that the former player was insightful about his crimes and showed minimal risk of repeat offence.

"This offending will never go away from his mind but he does need to get on with his life. At the time of the offending, he was one of the fastest bowlers in the world and that is why he was being identified to play internationally. He knows he will never progress into professional cricket in Australia or overseas," Graves said, as quoted by the North West Star.

Summers was arrested and extradited from the Northern Territory to Tasmania in 2025 after serving jail time for different child sex offences. He pleaded guilty in 2021 in the Northern Territory to charges including possessing and transmitting child abuse material.

Summers was arrested and extradited from the Northern Territory after serving jail time for separate offences of child sexual abuse, with charges of possession and transmission of sexually explicit material of children. He pleaded guilty to these charges in 2021. He has been out on bail, however, but was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in August of this year.

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During his playing career, Summers played seven List A matches and three T20s. He featured in two games in the Pakistan Super League, where he represented the Karachi Kings.