June 2019 St Leonards man jailed for sexually assaulting young girl A St Leonards man is starting a prison sentence after being convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl. Michael Surman, 73, of Conqueror Road, was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on Friday (June 21) after a five-day trial, for gross indecency and indecent assault on the girl, then aged under 10, at another address in St Leonards more than 15 years ago. Surman will also be a registered sex offender for life and in addition to his 10-year sentence will serve a further year on extended release licence. The court also heard that in a separate case he had previously been convicted of possessing indecent images of children. The images were taken from the Internet and did not involve any local children.