Her father bravely stood up in Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court this week to confront the now 21-year-old from Nathalia, who cannot be identified in order to protect the child’s identity.

Their families, both part of the Exclusive Brethren sect of the Christian Church, had spent the days of summer 2013 together by the water.

It was on a day in January that year, when the cousins were playing in the water at Lake William Hovell, that the first assault occurred.

The male, aged 17 at the time, and the girl were alone in the water when he placed his hands under her bather bottoms and touched her.

Later that month, the families were at another gathering at Lake Mulwala and he did the same thing again.

He pleaded guilty in court to committing an indecent act.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Mario Eliades said the sexual assault was a breach of trust between an older cousin and young girl, which happened more than once.

“She immediately complained to her mother and father,” he said.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the girl’s father said she had been in pain for hours after the assault.

He said the girl’s innocence had been taken away and he personally felt he failed as a father because it happened under his watch.

“She would have experienced serious mental pain that will never get taken away,” he said.

“No sentence would ever be enough for such an irreversible act against my daughter.”

A psychological report found the 21-year-old had a “psycho-sexual immaturity”, but the defence argued he had grown up and sought counselling since 2013.

Magistrate Stella Stuthridge placed him on a two-year good behaviour bond with conviction.

He will have to pay $24,000 to the Centre Against Sexual Assault over the two years and will be on the sex offender’s registry for four years.

“Despite your sexual immaturity, you must have known what you did was wrong,” she said.

“Six-year-old girls are tiny, little things.”