The 55-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had maintained his innocence and denied a string of charges of having sexual intercourse with a child under 10, and assaulting and committing an act of indecency with a child under 10, during an arraignment in Tamworth District Court.

The jury was told the first incident occurred between December, 1998, and January, 2001, when the victim was four years old in West Tamworth.

The man was related to the young girl and several details surrounding the case were suppressed for legal reasons.

The jury found the accused guilty of four other incidents which occurred between 1999 and 2002, when the victim was aged between five and seven.

Following a four-day trial, the jury took just half a day before returning unanimous verdicts of guilty on all five counts.

Acting Judge Colin Charteris revoked the offender’s bail following the verdicts, and remanded him into custody ahead of sentencing.

He will front a Sydney court later this month for a sentencing hearing.

The victim came forward and reported the incidents to Tamworth detectives, and following a lengthy investigation, culminated in an arrest in March, 2015.