OTTAWA -- A retired OPP officer pleaded guilty Monday to sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl, including putting his penis in her mouth.

John Bateman, 70, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and sexual interference with offence dates stretching from Dec. 2007 to Aug. 2009.

A sexual behaviours assessment was ordered.

According to an agreed-upon statement of facts, the girl disclosed the abuse on Aug. 12, 2009, when she was told she’d be visiting Bateman.

Bateman “put his hands down my pants,” the girl told her mother that afternoon as she helped her put her sandals on.

The little girl demonstrated what had been done to her.

“He puts his penis in my mouth,” the girl said when asked if he’d done anything else.

“I’m really, really telling the truth,” the child said when her mom explained the importance of being truthful.

The little girl would later unzip her mother’s shorts and try to put her hand down them to demonstrate what had happened.

Confronted with the allegation, Bateman first dismissed it as “embellishing” then admitted he’d touched the girl’s “bum” and put his penis in her mouth.

Bateman will appear in court for sentencing submissions June 16.

megan.gillis@sunmedia.ca