AN ITALIAN man living in Nailsworth sexually abused an 11-year-old girl while she visited his home.

Martin Tshisekedi, aged 46, of Lawnside, Nailsworth, abused the girl while they watched television.

He had denied touching the girl sexually and without her consent but was found guilty by a Gloucester Crown Court jury on Wednesday.

Mark Worsley, prosecuting, told the jury how the girl had been lying by a sofa that Tshisekedi was using to watch television when the offence happened in July.

"The defendant said 'if you want me to stop I will' and unsurprisingly she said stop and he did stop," he said.

"The crown says this was a sexual assault."

But Tshisekedi denied doing anything wrong.

He claimed he had played a game with the girl called the 'ant game' which involved pretending an ant was crawling around her body.

"My house is full of children at the weekends," he said.

"I started with her arms and went to the neck.

"She liked it but she wanted to impress people that she wasn't ticklish."

He was stunned, he said, when later that evening the girl accused him of touching her inappropriately.

"She said I want to go home - you touched me in a way that is not correct," Tshisekedi said.

"I said go to sleep - we'll talk about this tomorrow."

The girl complained of being homesick and he took her home in the early hours of the morning.

Tshisekedi, who has surrendered his passport, was released on conditional bail and will be sentenced on March 15.