A man who believes sex with children is the ‘purest form of love’ has been sentenced to 12 years jail for repeatedly raping a toddler.

A court in Canada heard how the convicted paedophile began to sexually abuse the two-year-old daughter of his girlfriend shortly after moving in with them.

He filled the role of the child’s father figure and the toddler even referred to him as ‘daddy’, Coquitlam provincial court, in British Columbia, heard.

According to CTV News, the attacks went on for about a year, only stopping for a brief period when he thought he might get caught.

The man was sentenced to a total of 12 years at Coquitlam provincial court, British Columbia, pictured, for sexually assaulting the toddler and possessing child pornography

The news service said 777 pictures and 72 videos of child pornography were found on various digital devices when police searched the home; many contained graphic footage of the little girl.

The toddler was also infected with genital warts by her attacker, who has not been named, CTV said.

Judge Roger Cutler said a psychological assessment of the man found there was no sense of remorse whatsoever for his actions.

‘The offender demonstrated no sense of guilt, shame, regret or remorse for his behaviour. He acknowledged no victim impact and demonstrated no victim empathy.’

The news service revealed that in one psychological interview, the man said he believes he is likely to re-offend and cannot be rehabilitated.

The child has been left with ‘long term psychological and emotional harm’ that is ‘incalculable’, according to Cutler.

The paedophile, who was 27 at the time the attacks started in August 2011, was sentenced to 10 years for the sex assaults plus two years for possession of child pornography.

He has already served little over a year in custody, CTV News said, and he has also been banned from visiting parks, pools, daycares, schools or anywhere young children will be.