Edward John Tappe, 49, of no fixed address, befriended the child at a caravan park and in what Judge John Smallwood described as a "dreadful breach of trust," later sexually assaulted her orally.

The offence happened late 2003. Tappe was convicted by a jury in the Bendigo County Court of one count of committing an act of sexual penetration of a child aged under 16.

Tappe will now serve a minimum of eight years behind bars, with Judge Smallwood saying the behaviour was "predatory and clandestine". The Bendigo County Court was told Tappe had a 30-year history of sexual violence against women, including convictions for rape abduction and child stealing. In 1977, he was sentenced to five years' jail for abducting a 29-year-old woman in Melbourne, driving her to a remote area and raping her. On another occasion, the court was told, Tappe raped a 22-year-old woman four times and allegedly drove her to St Kilda, where he suggested she prostitute herself so he could earn money. Other victims included girls aged 10, 13 and 15_ one of whom was grabbed from behind as she was entering a block of flats in Melbourne. Another was grabbed around the neck and told to lie on a bed. In sentencing Tappe, Judge Smallwood described the recent offence against a five-year-old child as "very grave." He said Tappe was a serious sex offender who had shown a "total lack of remorse" for his actions. The court was told Tappe has spent two-thirds of his life in custody and began sexually offending as young as age 12. Judge Smallwood fixed a non-parole period of eight years.