A 39-year-old Indian priest was found guilty of molestation in a New York court on Wednesday.

A jury ruled Father Francis Nelson was guilty of molesting a 12-year-old girl during a visit to console her sick grandmother in May 1999.

Nelson, who faces up to three years in prison, denied the allegations. He will be sentenced on March 25.

He said the girl, who is now 16, sat on his knee as they glanced at photos along with her grandmother.

After the girl complained of abuse, Nelson was removed from the Brooklyn diocese.

He was arrested last May when the diocese was asked to divulge its records on abusive priests to District Attorney Charles J Hynes in the wake of the Catholic priests scandal sweeping America.

The Brooklyn diocese told the DA's office that Nelson had returned to India, but he was found working at St Charles Borromeo Church in Manhattan.

'The verdict brings closure to the torturous experience visited on a young child who was abused by Father Nelson,' Hynes told reporters.