AUTHORITIES IN THE US state of Texas say that a father who caught a man trying to sexually abuse his four-year-old daughter punched him in the head repeatedly, eventually killing him.

CNN reports that the girl was left inside the family’s house during a social gathering while other family members were tending to horses on the ranch.

When the father returned to the house he caught the man molesting his daughter and stopped him, striking him repeatedly on the head.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene while the daughter was taken to a hospital in Victoria Texas for medical examination.

The incident happened on Saturday with the Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon saying that the girl is “okay besides the obvious mental trauma”.

Harmon told AP that the father, whose name has not be released, is unlikely to be arrested for the killing, adding that there is no evidence so far to doubt his story. The father was said to be “very remorseful”.

“You have a right to defend your daughter,” Harmon said. “He acted in defence of his third person. Once the investigation is completed we will submit it to the district attorney who then submits it to the grand jury, who will decide if they will indict him.”

The victim was a 47-year-old man who had no criminal history. His name is being withheld as authorities have not tracked down his family.

The deceased man was an “acquaintance” of the father who had come to help care for some horses at the ranch which is about 130 miles east of Houston.

- additional reporting from AP