A MAN has been warned that he is facing a lengthy' jail sentence after he admitted raping and sexually abusing a schoolgirl.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Timothy Pennington groomed the victim over a number of years and the allegations he had admitted were specimen counts.

The defendant, of Hendon Road, Nelson, pleaded guilty to raping the girl between May 2005 and 2006 and three charges of sexual activity with her.

The defendant, who was wearing a wedding ring as he stood in the dock, also admitted four counts of making an indecent photo of a child on February 14, last year.

He three charges of rape, two allegations of indecent assault, sexual activity with a child when she was 10 or 11 and two charges of assault by penetration. The defendant had no previous convictions.

Prosecutor Dennis Watson told the hearing all four charges the defendant had admitted were specimens and represented regular sexual activity with the girl.

Charles Brown, for the defendant, asked for bail and said Pennington was under no illusions about sentence.

Judge Beverley Lunt said she needed an assessment about whether the defendant was a danger to children and females in the community.

She bailed the defendant until April 25, for a pre-sentence report and stressed to him bail was merely to allow him to put his affairs in order. He was ordered not to contact prosecution witnesses.

Judge Lunt told Pennington: "It must be a lengthy custodial sentence. There is no hope of there being any other outcome but a custodial sentence."