A 57-year-old man found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage girl who had come to see him as a 'father figure' has been handed a prison sentence.

The man, whose identity has been protected, pleaded not guilty to one count of persistent sexual abuse of a child but was convicted by the jury in May.

Supreme Court Justice Robert Pearce last week handed the man a prison term, despite admitting that there were numerous reasons to doubt the testimony of a key witness - the complainant's mother.

The judge said the mother, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, had fabricated a story about suffering from cancer and had also previously been found guilty of drink driving, despite claiming another person was behind the wheel at the time.

The alleged abuse took place in Launceston between Mar

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