A former childcare worker is facing a jail term after being found guilty on one count of persistent sexual abuse of a girl, with the child's parents telling the court how she has been changed by the trauma.
WARNING: This story contains details of child sexual abuse which may cause distress.
The jury handed down its unanimous guilty verdict after deliberating for about seven hours.
Following the guilty verdict, the man, in his 20s, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentence.
Lawyer Kim Baumeler, who was representing the man, did apply for bail, but Hobart Supreme Court Judge Helen Wood told the court "bail is simply entirely inappropriate … he will be serving a term of imprisonment".
The court heard the man photographed the four-year-old girl in a state of undress, kissed her on the lips, touched her inappropriately and exposed himself to her.
The jury heard evidence from a former colleague who said she witnessed the man and the girl kiss on the lips at the childcare centre, which she described as passionate and something you would see between a husband and wife.
The woman confronted the man about the kiss and reported it to her team leader and centre management before the matter was investigated.
The man did not testify at his trial, but in a police interview shown to the jury, maintained the kiss was not sexual in nature and had "taken him by surprise".
During the early stages of the trial last week, the court heard there were times when the young girl would be left alone with the man, who was one of her supervisors.
Crown Prosecutor Elizabeth Avery said the chance of the man being left alone with the young girl increased during renovations at the childcare centre because the children were in a different building and needed to be escorted to the bathroom.
The court heard the man took photos of the girl in the toilet.
The jury was told Tasmania Police searched the man's home in December 2020 and seized a laptop and two mobile phones in his possession.
The court heard officers found a folder containing explicit images of the victim that had been deleted and were in the recycle bin on the laptop.
The court heard there was also a photo in the man's possession that had been taken by the girl's family on Christmas Day and posted on her father's Facebook page, which was public.
In a second police interview played to the court, the man denied any responsibility for the explicit images and made a throwaway comment that he had been "set up".
Jurors were told the four-year-old girl disclosed the abuse after several conversations with her parents and police, despite being told by the man that it was a secret.
The court heard the girl became withdrawn and said to her mother "you are going to think I'm disgusting" when she revealed more information about the abuse.
'Our world is forever altered'
Following the guilty verdict, the young girl's father issued a statement saying their lives had "changed forever" after his wife told him their child was harmed "in an unimaginable way".
"This world is now tainted in my eyes and I see danger everywhere for my family," he said.
The girl's mother also read her statement to the court, describing the impact the abuse has had on her daughter, causing her to have significant trouble with emotional control, bouts of physical self-harm, trouble with sleep and anxiety.
"She's only really starting to process what has been done to her; we had initially hoped at her young age she would be able to forget, but this isn't the case and may never be," she said.
"Our world is forever altered and the true impact of his actions are not known yet."
In sentencing submissions, Crown Prosecutor Elizabeth Avery said the man had shown no remorse regarding his offending.
She said the victim was "clearly identifiable in the photographs he took and that is a further breach of her trust".
"Engaging her in that act is inherently evil."
Ms Baumeler requested a forensic mental health report for the suggestion of moral culpability and impact of imprisonment.
Judge Wood will sentence the man at a later date.
