A MUM who says a convicted a paedophile tried to groom her daughter has questioned why he's still allowed to live nearby.

In January 2019, Keith Holloway of Worcester was spared prison despite repeatedly flouting a court order to protect children.

Holloway, now 66, had previously thrust his exposed genitals against a three-year-old girl in a supermarket, filmed under the skirts of young women and offered a girl of eight an ice pop, telling her she was 'beautiful' and inviting her to use his new shower.

But Holloway was not sent to jail by Judge Nicholas Cole at Worcester Crown Court because the most recent breach was deemed too 'minor' and because his defence barrister argued that prison would be 'crushing'.

It was the fourth time Holloway had breached the same order since it was imposed in September 15, 2017. Three involved his possession of devices with cameras and the most serious involved the befriending of the eight-year-old girl.

Now the mother of that girl has questioned why Holloway is allowed to continue to live in Back Lane South, Barbourne, near her home.

She said: "Although I had known Keith vaguely years ago, I knew nothing of his offences. I didn't see him for many years until I bumped into him in our street in 2017. He claimed he had lived here for a while.

"After this meeting we would go from seeing him once in a while to seeing him every day, this being on the morning school run. It is clear that he was timing his appearances so that he could see us, particularly my daughter. If he missed us in a morning he would try and catch us in the afternoon on the way home.

"He started to give my daughter little treats like an ice pop and money. I didn't like that as I saw it as trying to buy her affection. I told him thank you but he didn't need to do that.

"What I didn't realize was that this was also his excuse to make physical contact with my daughter. For example, when he handed her a two pound coin, he cupped both of her hands in his, got up close to her face and started making weird groaning sounds. He was staring at her intently for several seconds. My daughter looked very uncomfortable at this. I put my hand on her shoulder and made our excuses to leave.

"My daughter told me afterwards that she didn't like him getting so close, the way he stared at her or the weird noises he made. She said she didn't like him because he scared her. She called him weird.

"In one conversation he told us that he would be getting a shower due to his infirmities. I joked that I was jealous as we didn't have a shower. He offered us the use of his shower any time we liked, an offer that we had no intention of accepting. He mentioned this several times. He also told me his home phone number in case I ever needed help but I never felt the need to write it down.

"It was after an article in the Worcester News about him that I felt I had to contact the police as it was obvious he was trying to groom my daughter as his next victim. He only changed his not guilty plea to guilty at the last minute when he saw me turn up to court just seconds ahead of him."

Holloway was jailed for 51 months on February 7, 2003 after he approached a three-year-old girl in the corner of a supermarket and began 'thrusting his pelvis' into her while his genitals were exposed.

Then, he received a sentence of nine months in prison suspended for two years for outraging public decency on October 15, 2007 after he used the camera on his mobile phone to photograph young women under their skirts.

Holloway was made subject to a sexual offences prevention order for 10 years but breached that on December 14, 2016 when police discovered that he had a tablet with a camera.

He was fined for this offence on August 24, 2017. As a result of a further breach Holloway was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order which was due to last until October 15, 2027.

When Holloway was visited again by police they found he had a mobile phone with video and camera facility in his hallway which led to a seven month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months on March 6, 2018. In January last year, Holloway was sentenced to a 12-month community order and fined £1,000.

The mum of the eight-year-old girl added: "He is a man who is dangerous because he knows how to play the game and the system. He starts off by attempting to build up trust as he did with us. He would throw in subtle details about his life. He mentioned having children of his own but not being in contact. He would not state why at first but then claimed his wife/partner had turned them against him by making up lies about him but did not clarify what these supposed lies were.

"I was polite and only ever spoke to him in public. I never felt comfortable being anything but friendly in a sociable manner but he stated that I was a good friend because no-one else bothered with him. It is obvious why.

"He plays on his physical infirmities. He pretends he can't walk very well in public but when he thinks no-one is around he suddenly becomes more mobile, this observed by others.

"He was caught trying to look through my older daughter's letterbox. He also put some dirt in front of her door then claimed he was helping by cleaning it up. As a result of this my daughter no longer wants to have sleepovers at her sister's because she is worried he will try again.

"The system is failing victims. Instead of being protected it is the guilty who are being protected. I was asked by the police if I was happy living here. As I have family and friends here I am not prepared to move and let him win.

"He will reoffend any chance he gets. He will get let off with a fine just like he has the last three times unless the system is put right."

The Worcester News approached the Ministry of Justice for a comment on why Holloway was allowed to continue to live near the girl he tried to befriend, but did not receive a response before we went to print.