A HIGHBRIDGE man crept into the bedroom of four small children and sexually abused a young girl as she wriggled about in pain.

Robert Unwin, aged 62, who lived in North Avenue, was told to expect a prison sentence after being convicted of indecent assault on an infant by jurors at Taunton Crown Court on Wednesday.

At the end of the three-day trial, the young victim's mother spoke about her relief after seeing Unwin found guilty for "taking her daughter's youth".

The jury heard how, on an occasion between December 2002 and March 2004, Unwin went into a room where four children slept one night.

He then abused the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, while the rest of the house slept.

On a later occasion the young girl became hysterical and confessed to her mother what had happened.

Andrew Macfarlane, prosecuting, said: "All would have been well had not the defendant been tempted to do what he did.

"It all came tumbling down because (the girl) could not cope with it much longer."

The jury heard that, in her statement to police, the girl - who is now aged ten - described how she was assaulted.

Evidence given in court by a doctor revealed the girl had been sexually assaulted.

Unwin, a driving instructor who lived in Bridgwater, denied indecent assault but was convicted by a 10-2 jury majority after hours of deliberations.

He was ordered to remain in custody pending a pre-sentence report.

Judge Graham Hume Jones said: "You are convicted by this jury of one offence of indecent assault on a small child.

"In my judgement an offence of this nature must carry a prison sentence."

In the aftermath of the trail, the victim's mother spoke of her relief at seeing Unwin convicted.

She said: "After three and a half years of waiting he's finally got what he deserves.

"I would not want anyone to go through that. He took her childhood away. She's not a girl any more. He made her into a woman before she was ready."

The mother described the terrible effect the incident had on her daughter.

"She became argumentative and her entire personality changed," she said.

"She wets the bed, sleep walks, her school work has suffered because she goes into a world of her own in the classroom.

"My girl has got a new beginning now. She can go out to play again."