The man who betrayed a family's trust

Carpenter Michael Scott sneaked into the room where his victim was sleeping, crouched down by the bunk bed and indecently assaulted her.

A jury at Hove Crown Court took almost seven hours to convict Scott, formerly of Manor Close in Storrington, after a four day trial last week.

Judge Anthony Scott-Gall told the 55-year-old, who has also lived in Shoreham and Worthing, a custodial sentence was "inevitable" after his "despicable" crime in December, 2003.

During the trial, the court was told the girl was a friend of the family and used to go on caravan holidays with them. She was staying at the house in Storrington when she was attacked.

The jury was shown a video of her police interview, taken on January 2 '” two weeks after the assault.

Clutching hold of a gold teddy bear and a fluffy dog, she told police how Scott put his hand up her shorts.

She said: "I was sleeping on the bottom bunk bed when I saw Mike crouching down next to it. "

The youngster described the indecent assault, which lasted a minute. When Scott noticed she had woken he quickly left the room, she told police.

She said: "I could only see him and what he was doing. I woke up and he went out the room... I wanted my mummy and my sister. Then I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I started crying. I was feeling sad and alone because I wanted my mummy. I looked in the mirror and I kept said to myself, 'I want my mummy and I want to go home'.

"An hour later I went back into the room and just laid there thinking about what he'd done.

"I went downstairs for breakfast and Mike said to me, 'how are you?' and I said, 'fine thank you'.

"When I went home I just kept on thinking about it all that night. I couldn't really believe what he had done."

During cross-examination the girl told the court she felt "quite comfortable" with Scott prior to the attack and sat on his lap for a cuddle before she went to bed that night.

It emerged that around the time of the attack the victim had been "unhappy" because her parents had separated.

She said the Scotts, who have been married for 21 years, were happy and never argued. "But I was not jealous...," the girl said.

Earlier, Scott, who had denied the charge, told the court six years ago he had both hips replaced which caused stiffness in his pelvis. He said the operation left him unable to crouch, as it was alleged.

The court heard how a "squeaky" floorboard outside the bedroom the youngster was staying in would have woken Scott's wife, who is a light sleeper if he had returned to the room that night.

Before the jury was sworn in, the court heard the defendant had a conviction quashed in 1991 for indecent assault on an eight-year-old girl in Worthing.

Scott is due to be sentenced on December 3. He was released on bail.