Timothy Newton, 53, pleaded guilty in the County Court in Bendigo to one count of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 and was handed a 10-month suspended prison sentence on Monday.

Read more: Newton’s victim speaks out about the lifelong impact of his offending

The court heard Newton had sex with the girl several times during a period of about three months when he was aged in his early 20s after encouraging her to sneak out of her parents house to meet him.

In her victim impact statement the woman said she made a complaint to police about the offending following a discussion with a psychologist in which she “learned I was not responsible as I was a child and Timothy Newton was a sexual predator”.

She then phoned Newton in December 2015 from a police sexual offences office, where she recorded the call.

When she asked him about the offending, Newton admitted he “probably might be in trouble” and had been “waiting for the cops to knock on my door”.

He was subsequently interviewed by police and admitted to having sex with the girl several times before breaking off contact with her because it was “not right”.

“There was no force or nothing, it just kind of happened like it shouldn’t have,” he told police.

He said the girl “had the body of a 16-year-old so it kind of didn’t feel as awkward” but he knew it was “wrong, because of her age”.

But the woman rejected this assertion, saying she “clearly” looked like a child.

She said she had suffered from depression as a result of Newton’s offending but had made progress since coming forward.

“I now have a voice and can begin to heal,” she said.