A LATCHFORD man who sexually abused a sleeping girl after playing board games with her will not go to prison.

Ivan Hanley, aged 46, of Kingsway South, touched the girl, aged 9, sexually in a case of historic abuse.

Chester Crown Court heard on Monday how the attack happened following a party on New Year's Eve in 1989.

Hanley, who was 21 at the time of the offence, denied the assault when challenged.

It came to light when the victim, now 34, worked up the courage to go to Cheshire Police in September, 2013.

Nearly a year later, Hanley pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault.

'Hysterical' immediately afterwards, in a victim impact statement, the victim said she felt 'vulnerable' and 'unable to tell anyone'.

The court heard she experienced 'feelings of guilt' and felt like her 'childhood had been taken away'.

She remains scared of being woken up at night, as it brings back images of what happened.

Hanley, who has committed no further offences since 1989, acts as a voluntary carer.

He was himself a victim of 'disturbing' sexual abuse, when kidnapped as a child in Northern Ireland, the court heard.

He wrote a letter to the court expressing his 'regret and remorse'.

Judge Raj Shetty said he had decided to take an 'exceptional' course of action when not sending Hanley to prison, because he had been a victim, and not committed further crimes.

Hanley, wearing a black suit, white shirt and red tie in court, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years.

He will also undergo a treatment programme for sex offenders.