Salford child sex attacker 'thought victim, four, was 18' Published duration 26 January 2018

image copyright GMP image caption Conrad Pritchard has been jailed for 32 months

A man who sexually assaulted a four-year-old girl and claimed he thought she was 18 has been jailed.

Conrad Pritchard, 22, attacked the child at a house in Salford after drinking in a pub.

Pritchard denied sexual assault at Manchester Crown Court but was convicted and sentenced to 32 months.

Det Con Paul Davies, of Greater Manchester Police, said Pritchard, of Isaac Close, Salford, targeted the girl to "satisfy his appalling urges".

Pritchard had been out drinking with three others on 25 June before heading to the home of one of the group members.

He went upstairs and the child's mother heard her daughter crying in distress. She found Pritchard lying beside the girl, naked from the waist down.

Police said he fled and on his arrest, told officers he thought she was the 18-year-old babysitter.

DC Davies said Pritchard's attempt "to justify what happened by claiming that he thought a four-year-old girl was actually 18 is absurd."