A Manitoba man who betrayed his young niece's affection by introducing her to child pornography and sexual abuse was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.

The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to one count each of accessing child pornography and sexual assault. He cannot be named to protect the identity of his niece, who is now 11.

The man was living in the same house as the girl and started molesting her when she was eight years old.

"This is the 'nice uncle,' the uncle who didn't have any children of his own, who bought children gifts their parents couldn't," said Crown attorney Joyce Dalmyn.

Court heard the girl frequently visited the man's room to use his laptop computer. He exposed the girl to explicit child pornography videos and repeatedly molested her.

Outside court, Dalmyn said the case offers proof of the link between child pornography and sexual abuse.

"This is a clear example of this slippery slope," she said. "It is positively frightening."

Dalmyn said the Crown would have sought a higher sentence had the case gone to trial. Instead the Crown and defence agreed to a plea bargain that spared the young victim the ordeal of testifying in court.

"This is a young girl who would have been very traumatized to come to court," said Dalmyn, who described the girl as immature for her age.

According to a pre-sentence report, the man said he believed he and the victim were involved in a consensual "boyfriend/girlfriend relationship and she wanted to do these things."

Judge Tim Preston said the man's actions represented "a terrible exploitation of an innocent, unsophisticated and vulnerable child."

Preston sentenced the man to an additional three years supervised probation and ordered that he undergo sex offender counselling and have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

dean.pritchard@sunmedia.ca