A 39-year-old man who sexually molested a seven-year-old girl under the guise of helping her family has been found guilty in the Supreme Court.

Shuja Muhammad, who was called “uncle” by his victim, was charged with four counts of sexually exploiting the girl while in a position of trust, on unknown dates between August 1 and September 30 of last year.

A jury yesterday found him guilty on all counts.

It was a second offence for Muhammad, of Somerset, who was also convicted in January of sexually touching and invading the privacy of a different girl, aged 11.

His victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, took the stand during Muhammad’s trial, telling the jury Muhammad had taken her and a sibling to the Nine Beaches resort — and then, after she showered at home, exposed himself to her, as well as kissing and groping her.

Muhammad then whispered in her ear: “Don’t tell nobody or I’m going to get locked up”, the court heard.

However, the girl, who is now eight, informed her mother that evening.

Her mother told the court that she hadn’t initially reported the incident to police because she planned to catch Muhammad herself.

Summing up her case, Crown counsel Nicole Smith told the jury Muhammad’s guilt was incontrovertible — although the defence pointed to inconsistencies in the girl’s story to suggest she’d fabricated it.

“Here you have an eight-year-old girl telling you that this person, who she trusted, violated her on two occasions,” Ms Smith said.

“Why would an eight-year-old want to come to court to face persons she doesn’t even know, to say things so personal, so intimate? What would be her motive? How does that little girl even think of things like that?”

Muhammad was “by his own admission a father figure”, she added, and exploited that trust.

“He put his mouth to her vagina; he put his penis to her vagina, and her put his tongue to her tongue,” Ms Smith told the jury. “It happened to her. On the last occasion he put his hand to her vagina.”

On the second occasion, Muhammad took the family to a home where groceries were provided for the needy.

While her mother was inside, he drove the girl back to her home and touched her genitals before being interrupted by her sibling.

The girl later told her mother that Muhammad had been “getting ready to do it again”.

Muhammad had acted under the belief that his victim had kept her silence, Ms Smith said.

“Nobody said anything to him — so he tried it again,” the prosecutor told jurors. “He thought his secret was kept. It speaks for itself — she was easy prey. She trusted him.”

The incidents were reported to the police in October. The victim’s mother, who broke down in tears in court, said she’d at one point contemplated killing Muhammad by drowning him.

The two had known each other for nearly a decade, but the woman said she’d been fearful for her life.

Defence lawyer Kenville Savoury questioned how the victim was able to tell the court exactly how many beers Muhammad had consumed at the beach, and pointed to apparent errors in her testimony, suggesting the girl was “making it up”.

The defence also faulted a “sloppy investigation” by police, who didn’t check the defendant’s clothing or phone records.

After several hours’ deliberation, however, the jury returned with a unanimous verdict.

Muhammad was taken back into custody, with a sentencing date to be set.