A paedophile indecently assaulted a four-year-old girl just six months after being released from prison, a court heard.

Michael Scott, 37, of Seabrooke Rise, Grays, touched her and exposed himself.

He later admitted that he found it difficult to keep his urges towards children under control, Basildon Crown Court heard.

Scott - who was beaten up after the latest attack - was today starting a five year jail sentence after pleading guilty to the assault.

Prosecutor Chris Campbell-Clyne said the girl had been playing outside Scott's flat in June when the attack happened.

As she went to put some litter in a dustbin, Scott ran out of his flat and indecently assaulted her.

The girl screamed, attracting the attention of a nearby woman, and Scott ran off.

He was arrested shortly afterwards and admitted in a police interview that he had gone downstairs to look for a young girl.

Abigail Dean, defending, said: "This defendant finds it very difficult to control the sexual desires he has towards children.

"He was assaulted quite violently just after this offence took place, which brought home to him how these offences are regarded."

The court heard that Scott was on licence when he committed the assault, having been released from prison in December 1997.

He had been jailed after admitting three counts of indecent assault on children between August 1995 and June 1996. In one case he grabbed a girl and tried to drag her into his home.

Scott was imprisoned for four years with a further year to serve for breaching his licence conditions.

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