A 42-year-old Oneonta man was convicted Wednesday in the sexual abuse of a young girl.

The Blount County jury found Dustin Lamar Peoples guilty of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12 and first-degree sodomy.

Peoples was initially indicted on the charges in 2019 and remained out on bond pending this week’s trial.

In March 2019, the 10-year-old girl disclosed that she had been sexually abused by Peoples from Aug. 7, 2018, through Christmas of the same year.

The girl was interviewed at the Blount County Children’s Center within days of her disclosure.

According to prosecutors, the victim testified that Peoples forced her to perform oral sex on him before he would allow the child to play video games on her gaming console.

Peoples took the stand in his own defense and denied having any inappropriate contact with the child.

After the verdict was read, Circuit Judge Greg Reid remanded Peoples to the custody of the Blount County Sheriff’s Department pending sentencing.

This case was investigated by Sergeant Ed Hull with the Blount County Sheriff’s Department.

“This young lady appeared at the Children’s Center when she was just 10 years old. She did her best to explain the things that had been done to her using terms she understood at the time,’’ District Attorney Pamela Casey said. “She was innocent. She did not know the common words that adults or even teenagers would use to describe what had happened to her.”

“She spoke as a child. As an innocent child,’’ Casey said. “Dustin Peoples stole this child’s innocence.”

Sentencing is set for Nov. 19.