A former B.C. daycare worker has been sentenced to two years less a day in jail after being convicted of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl in his care.

Kyle David Lennax, 23, was convicted of sexual assault, sexual touching of a child and invitation to sexual touching of a child in September.

In a decision posted on the B.C. Supreme Court website Monday, Justice Elizabeth Bennett concluded a fixed term of imprisonment was necessary to bring home the significance of the crime and the consequences for those `who commit such vile acts against a young child.'

Bennett noted the girl, now nine, said in a statement that she is still haunted by the abuse.

"She does not sleep alone because of fear of nightmares. She sleeps with her mother every night," Bennett said. "[She] has suffered emotionally, mentally, and physically."

Lennax, 23, worked at Funshine Daycare Centre in Coquitlam in 2004 and 2005.

Lennax, who is six feet tall and weighs over 300 pounds, French-kissed the girl, touched her in her genital area on more than one occasion and caused her to touch his penis and masturbate him.

As a condition of the three-year probation he was also given, Lennax is to have no contact with the victim or her family, though he has been ordered to write letters of apology.

With files from The Canadian Press