The girl’s mother says she’s heartbroken by the drastic changes in her daughter since the encounter with “the sick, selfish monster”.

Busker Michael John Molloy, 26, was found guilty last year of aggravated indecent assault of the girl in November 2013 at a Mount Gambier primary school playground. He will be sentenced on March 27.

In her victim impact statement read out to the SA District Court yesterday, the mother said her previously bubbly, friendly daughter was now non-social, scared, untrusting and clingy.

She said the girl was now frightened of men and feared they would hurt her.

“She sobs and she wonders why he hurt her and how she could have stopped him,” she said. “How dare he do this to our beautiful little baby.”

Molloy admitted that hours before the assault he searched the internet for child pornography and drew pornography and wrote pornographic captions on his guitar while under the influence of methamphetamine.

Defence lawyer Nick Healy asked the judge not to impose a crushing sentence, saying Molloy was contrite, had insight into his actions and blamed no one but himself and his use of methamphetamine.

“He doesn’t admit to having paedophiliac tendencies,” he said. “He is revolted by it as he has a child of his own.”

Mr Healy said Molloy was having a very hard time in jail in Mount Gambier. “A couple of prison guards are friends of the victim’s family,” he said.

Prosecutor Vanessa Burrows described the offence as brazen, given that other children were nearby and parents were not too far away.

“It was deliberate and predatory behaviour,” she said, noting his earlier internet searches were specifically for child pornography. 

AAP