WARNING: Confronting content

The husband of a daycare owner has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for repeatedly raping a seven-year-old girl at his wife’s centre.

The now 50-year-old offender was found guilty of repeatedly sexually assaulting the child between February 2021 and August 2022 at their home-turned centre in Point Cook, southwest of Melbourne.

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today

The girl had been attending the centre since she was two years old.

The offences took place in the lounge room during the day, while she was in after-school care and on weekends.

The abuse came to light in November 2022, when the girl complained to her older sister she was experiencing pain in her genital area.

She was taken to a doctor the following day and disclosed what had happened.

Following the consultation, she was then referred to the Royal Children’s Hospital, and Victoria Police were contacted.

In her police interview, the girl said she felt “scared” and “tricked” by the man, who would “ask if she liked it and had a weird smile”.

Police obtained CCTV footage from the lounge room, but no recordings from the period when the offences occurred had been retained.

Since the offending, the young girl suffers from nightmares, is afraid of the dark, and insists on having a camera in her room for a sense of safety, the Herald Sun reported.

She also continues to experience difficulties at school.

Her mother told the court she now lives in a constant state of guilt and emotional pain.

“I blame myself for what happened … The anxiety, the helplessness, the fear that I failed her is like running a marathon I never signed up for. And it never ends,” said the mother, according to the Herald Sun.

“These are not things a child should ever have to worry about or fear.”

The masthead reported the offender emigrated from the Philippines in 2002.

It remains unclear whether he held a Working With Children Check, how many other children were enrolled at the centre, and if their families have been informed.

Judge Harper described the man’s actions as “abhorrent”.

“Your victim was only seven years of age. Your actions were abhorrent and as conceded by your counsel, the offending was humiliating, demeaning and objectifying,” she said.

“You breached the trust of your victim and her family and led her to believe your wife knew of the offending so it was alright.

“Your offending was opportunistic, committed on occasions where your wife was not in the vicinity.”

He was sentenced to a total of 15 years and six months in prison, with a non-parole period of nine years and nine months.

He must complete a sex offenders treatment program and will remain on the sex offenders register for life.

A Department of Education spokesperson said the family daycare has been banned to eliminate further risk to children’s safety.