Newsagent admits child sex abuse

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A Ballyclare newsagent who admitted abusing a nine-year-old girl will "almost inevitably" be jailed, a judge has said.

Thomas Ronald Smyth, 68, from Clare Heights, pleaded guilty to indecent assault and gross indecency between 1997 and 1999.

As he entered his guilty pleas his victim was comforted by her family.

Ordering Smyth to sign the sex offenders register, the judge said a prison term was "almost inevitable".