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(Image: NORTH NEWS / NNP)

Raheelah Dar, 43, was convicted of grooming, isolating and manipulating the young girl to molest her over four years.

A jury unanimously found the mum guilty of three counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child at a trial in June.

But at her sentencing at Teeside Crown Court, Dar's lawyer Alison Pryor begged the judge to give her community service because her "shame" as a Muslim was enough reprisal.

She said: "Because of the contact under which this offending took place, my client is a practicing Muslim, the shame that this has brought and will bring on her family cannot be underestimated.

"It is something that would not be found in a more ordinary case of this type. The effect that a sentence would have is less than the effect that the conviction had on the community."

(Image: NORTH NEWS / KATIE LUNN)

But Recorder Tim Roberts QC said he "would not be fulfilling (his) public duty" if he did not jail the sex offender and he handed Dar a seven-year prison term.

Sentencing, Recorder Roberts QC said: "You were 26. She was only nine. You were sexually experienced and had been married. She was innocent. You were crafty.

"You are an offender of particular concern.

"You took her under your wing and that may at first have been a generous consideration on your part but very soon you targeted her as a victim because she was vulnerable."

(Image: PA)

(Image: NORTH NEWS / NNP)

The court heard twisted Dar, from Middlesbrough, North Yorks., began to groom the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, following the collapse of her first marriage.

The warped sex fiend gradually groomed the girl, stroking her hair and telling her she was special.

She kissed the girl, made sexual conversation, undressed in front of her and got her to kiss a boy, which led to more intimate sexual assaults.

Christine Egerton, prosecuting, said the victim had struggled with weight issues, self-harm and isolation since the abuse.

She only went to the police last year after a chance encounter with Dar, who has since had a further divorce and suffered the death of a daughter.

In an impact statement read out in court the victim said: "I find it very difficult to trust anybody. Physical contact such as a simple hug can bring on severe panic attacks.

"As a result of the abuse I suffered, I have been left feeling isolated and unable to engage with people."