A 33-year-old Nailsworth man has been convicted of a dozen sex offences against a brother and sister when he was babysitting them during a six-year period more than a decade ago.

But James King was cleared of the two most serious charges against him, of raping the boy, after the jury could not agree on verdicts.

It was the second time King had stood trial on the catalogue of charges – at the end of the first trial, the jury was unable to agree on any verdicts and was discharged.

But after a retrial that lasted three weeks, King was found guilty of twice indecently assaulting the boy and twice committing indecency with him between January 1998 and January 2001.

He was formally cleared of two charges of raping the boy after the jury did not agree and the prosecution said it would not seek a third trial.

King was also convicted of eight offences against the girl between August 1996 and February 2004.

They comprised six charges of indecently assaulting her and two of indecency with a child.

The girl was aged between about six and 12 at the time of the offences and the boy was between 10 and 12.

King described the two children as lying as “attention seekers” and insisted there was no truth in their allegations.

At one time, he was at the home of the children almost every day to babysit them, but he never touched them sexually and he rarely went into their bedrooms, he stated.

Asked what he thought of the rape and sexual assault allegations the children made against him he replied: “I am sick at the thought of it. It is just completely wrong.”

The jury was told that King, of Highwood Court Nailsworth, started babysitting for the children when he was 15 or 16 and carried on until his early twenties. The prosecution alleged that during that time he molested them both – the girl hundreds of times – and he raped the boy twice.

When the jury finally returned verdicts after three days in retirement, Judge Hart initially remanded him in custody and King was in tears as he went down to the cells, as were supporters in the public gallery.

However, Judge William Hart then decided, after hearing from the defence lawyer, to grant King conditional bail for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

He told King he will pass sentence at a date to be fixed at Bristol Crown Court in the New Year.