11:50 PM CDT on Thursday, July 6, 2006

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA-TV

Louis DeLuca

Dallas Mavericks' ballkid Scott Bonds (left) passes out programs at the American Airlines Center in November 2004.

An 18-year-old Dallas Mavericks ball boy, who worked during the previous season for the team, was recently discovered to be a convicted sex offender.

Scott Allen Bonds has been on local, state and national sex offender websites for the last year after he was convicted of fondling a 5-year-old girl in 2004.

Bonds attended games, and possibly a summer basketball camp with children as young as 8-years-old, while working as a ball boy for the Mavericks over the last six months.

"The case concerns something that happened when Mr. Bonds was juvenile," said Robert Udashen, Bonds' attorney. "It happened several years ago."

While Bonds was 16 at the time of the sexual assault, because of the nature of crime, he has to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, he must not go within 1,000 feet of any place where children under 13 gather or where they may participate as spectators.

"When the playoffs came around, you know towards the end of the season, he didn't come around as much," Bonds said.

The Dallas Mavericks said he did work as a ball boy, but was never unsupervised.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sent an e-mail that stated, "The minute we found out we let him go. No one was ever at risk. No harm ever occurred."

The Mavericks won't confirm if Bonds attended the popular Hoops Camp last summer while already a convicted sex offender, but other ball boys said it's a requirement to be at camp.

Bonds' attorney said his client is not a danger to children and never violated his probation.

"I can assure you there has been no violations of condition of probation and that the probation has been aware of all his activities," Bonds said.

He also said his client successfully completed counseling and his client shouldn't be punished for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, other ball boys said that the Mavericks Hoops Camp and Ballkid program are safe and well run.

The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report