The parents of a girl sexually assaulted by a neighbour, in what a judge described as "a parent's worst nightmare", are calling for law reforms after he was sentenced to seven years jail today.
Stephen Maurice lived just 50 metres from the Sunshine home where he broke into the 10-year-old girl's window and assaulted her in her own bed in October last year.
The 32-year-old today pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated burglary and one count of sexual assault and was sentenced in the Victorian County Court to nine years jail with a minimum of seven.
The victim's parents have expressed anger over the sentence, saying the sexual assault would have attracted a higher maximum penalty had their daughter not turned 10 just two weeks earlier.
Sexual penetration of a girl between 10 and 16 carries a maximum of 10 years.