A 51-YEAR-OLD man caught on camera carrying out a "disgraceful and disgusting" sexual assault on a schoolgirl had refused to own up his guilt to the probation officer trying to help him, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Jerzy Gurajczyk was last month convicted by a jury of putting his hand up the child's school uniform skirt as she waited at a pelican crossing on Valentine's Day last year.

She had travelled to Bradford city centre by bus and was standing at the junction of Manor Row and Upper Piccadilly when Gurajczyk struck from behind.

CCTV footage of him indecently assaulting the girl in daylight was played during the trial and it took the jury less than an hour to find him guilty.

Prosecutor Tim Capstick showed the court the distinctive two tone jacket the defendant was wearing at the time.

Five days after the assault, Gurajczyk was arrested when a police community support officer spotted him wearing the same jacket..

Today, his solicitor advocate, Anne-Marie Hutton, said he continued to deny that he had committed the offence.

Miss Hutton conceded it was "a very unpleasant incident" but Gurajczyk, of Sunbridge Road, Bradford, had no previous convictions, except for a single offence of shoplifting some years ago.

The girl was on her way to meet friends to go ice skating when Gurajczyk ran his hand up her skirt over her tights.

The shocked teenager turned briefly to confront him before running across the road without looking and alerting members of the public to what had just happened.

Judge David Hatton QC told Gurajczyk: "It was a disgraceful and disgusting event" that caused the girl and her mother considerable upset and distress.

"I cannot begin to contemplate why you behaved like that but it is conduct that will not do," the judge said.

"Conduct of this kind cannot be tolerated."

But he did not believe that Gurajczyk presented any risk to the public and could only jail him for a matter of weeks.

"There is not a shred of evidence that you have ever behaved before as the jury found that you behaved on February 14 last year," Judge Hatton said.

He sentenced Gurajczyk to a community order for 12 months with supervision from the probation service and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He must obey an electronically monitored three month curfew, from 9pm to 7am.

Gurajczyk must sign on the sex offender register for five years.

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