A FAMILY has spoken of their agony after a pensioner and one-time friend was jailed for abusing their eight-year-old daughter for more than a year.

John Brown, 67, was locked up for four years after a jury found him guilty of a campaign of abuse against the youngster.

Now the young girl’s family has said they have endured hell since discovering what Brown was subjecting their youngest member to.

Her father, speaking exclusively to he Daily Post said: “Hopefully we’ll be able to draw a line uder it now but it will still be hard.

“And how it will affect my daughter later in life is impossible to guess.”

Yesterday Liverpool Crown Court heard Brown’s crimes only came to light after the father of his victim became suspicious of Brown’s behaviour and questioned his young daughter.

When officers searched Brown’s house they discovered 13 indecent images of youngsters – eight of the second most serious category – on his computer.

Brown, who suffers from a heart condition and has a back injury, was also found to have stash of indecent pictures on his computer.

Jailing him, Judge Bryn Holloway said: “It reveals an unhealthy and quite unacceptable interest in young children performing sexual poses that are frankly disgusting.

“These are children who are subjected to threats of violence and most unpleasant experiences that they have to undergo in order to satisfy the lust of people like you.

“If it wasn’t for people like you that access these sites and pay for them the need for children to be so badly abused would not be there.”

Brown, of Cross Lane, Whiston, initially denied five charges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity between October 1, 2005, and October 20, 2006, and a further 14 charges of making and possessing indecent images.

But on the day his trial was due to start at Liverpool Crown Court he changed some of his pleas and admitted the charges relating to the pictures.

However, he continued to deny the child abuse charges and a trial went ahead, forcing his young victim to give evidence.

Speaking after Brown was convicted of all charges by a jury, the child’s father said he was disgusted his daughter had been forced to go through the ordeal all over again.

He said: “Now I’ve got to try and make sure her life returns to normal. She’s still very young and when she gets into the age when she wants a relationship, how is that going to affect her.

“It’s almost impossible for us as parents. Whoever she’s with now, we cannot trust.

“My whole worldview has been altered.”

He revealed the strain had caused arguments within the family and his job had become ever harder to hold down.

He said: “It has been hell and has turned our world upside down.

“What is so awful, total agony to be honest, is that he and his family are still denying that he is guilty.”

This was made clear in the courtroom when Earl Pinnock, defending, said Brown’s family continued to maintain his innocence.

He added: “Mr Brown is 67 and he comes into contact with the criminal justice system for the first time.

But Judge Holloway added: “You are still in denial, your family are in denial.

“They have to realise a jury has convicted you quite appropriately from overwhelming evidence of these offences.”