Mark Bridger has been found guilty of abducting and murdering schoolgirl April Jones in Wales.
He has been given a whole life sentence at Mold Crown Court.
April, five, vanished while playing on her bike near her home in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, on 1 October last year.
Her body was never found despite one of the largest searches in British policing history.
A jury convicted Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, of abducting and murdering April and of unlawfully disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice.
The disappearance of April, who had cerebral palsy, sparked a massive outpouring of support for her family, with hundreds of people joining in the search.
The jury of nine women and three men returned the unanimous verdicts following just over four hours of deliberations.
Bridger closed his eyes and appeared to hold back tears as the guilty verdicts were read.
April's parents Paul, 41, and Coral, 43, followed the verdicts from the public gallery, on a balcony overlooking the court room.
Mrs Jones appeared to wipe away tears as the verdicts were announced.
The verdicts were greeted with complete silence from the public gallery.
The trial, which began on 30 April, was told that Bridger was a "fantasist" who had "a clear interest in child pornography and in child murder cases".
The defendant himself had told police he was an SAS-trained "mercenary" but was in fact a former abattoir worker.
Elwen Evans QC, prosecuting, said Bridger murdered the girl and then played a "cruel game" in an attempt to cover his tracks.
She told the jury: "He claimed to know the rugged terrain around Machynlleth well, and that's been a significant feature in police determining the size, scope and scale in their search for April."
Ms Evans also told the jury about the kind of obscene material that had been found on Bridger's laptop following his arrest.
Police found numerous indecent images on the computer, as well as pictures of young female murder victims, including Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Bridger also had images of local young Machynlleth girls.
"We say his interest in pornography, young girls, rape and murder cases is all too relevant and you may see it as the key to understanding what he did and why he did what he did," Ms Evans told them.
It is not known what Bridger said to April to entice her into his car.
The court heard she was "happy and smiling" when she was seen climbing into a Land Rover Discovery.
Ms Evans told the jury Bridger's claim that April died in a car accident was a lie to cover up his "sexual" motivation for snatching the five-year-old.
Early in the trial, the jury was taken to visit Bridger's cottage, Mount Pleasant, where April's blood and small bone fragments were found.
Those microscopic pieces of April's skull were all that was found of her remains.
April's mother describes impact of her daughter's murder
April's mother described the impact of her daughter's death, saying: "April fought to come into the world, she fought to stay in this world and he has taken her not only from us but from everyone who loved her."
In a victim impact statement read to the court by Ms Evans, Mrs Jones said: "As April's mother I will live with the guilt of letting her go out to play on the estate that night for the rest of my life."
"I will never see her smile again or hear her stomping around upstairs and onto the landing.
"We will never see her bring home her first boyfriend and Paul will never walk her down the aisle," she added.
Mrs Jones’ ended by asking: "How will we ever get over it?"
