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

Conrad Pritchard, 21, of Isaac Close, Salford was sentenced yesterday, Thursday 25 January 2018, at Manchester Crown Square to 32 months in prison after being convicted of sexual assault of a child under 13.

On Sunday 25 June 2017 Pritchard was out drinking with three other people in a pub in Salford before heading to the home of one of the group at around 1am.

Whilst at the address the quartet continued drinking into the early hours of the morning before Pritchard silently disappeared upstairs.

A short time later the woman who lived at the property heard her four-year-old daughter crying in a clearly distressed way.

The woman went upstairs to comfort her daughter when she found Pritchard naked to the waist and lying next to the girl pretending to be asleep.

He ran out of the room, at which point the girl told her mother that he had assaulted her.

Pritchard was found hiding under a bed in another room before being chased out of the house. After being arrested, he claimed during his police interview that he thought the little girl was actually the 18-year-old babysitter.

Detective Constable Paul Davies of GMP’s Salford borough said: “Conrad Pritchard targeted a four-year-old girl as she slept in her own home so that he could satisfy his own appalling urges.

“He deliberately targeted his victim and since the incident has continued to show very little remorse for his actions.

“What he did that night left his victim understandably distraught and we are continuing to provide her with support from specially trained officers.

“His attempt to justify what happened by claiming that he thought a four-year-old girl was actually 18 is absurd and he is now where he deserves to be.”