Luke Riley, 36, subjected the girl to more than two years of appalling sexual abuse.

The long list of offences took place in the Mansfield area at a time when the child was still of primary school age.

In total Riley, of Mansfield, had 11 separate child sexual charges brought against him but always denied doing anything wrong.

Riley’s lies meant that the girl was forced to relive her horrifying ordeal all over again in court as part of a week-long trial in April of this year.

In a victim impact statement read out in Nottingham Crown Court, the girl revealed how Riley’s wicked actions had ruined her childhood and had caused her to self-harm in the years that followed.

Following the trial, a jury found Riley guilty of 11 child sex offences, including two counts of rape of a child under the age of 13.

Riley then appeared before Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing yesterday (10 June), where he was jailed for 18 years.