The mother of an eight-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted by his babysitter has expressed outrage at his sentence.

Mark Cleverley was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to attend the Thames Valley Project for sex offenders, when he appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

The mother of the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, ran crying from the courtroom when the sentence was read out.

She said: "I was so shocked that he was not sent to prison, he is now free to go out and do this to other children and there is nothing stopping him." Former refuse collector Cleverley, 35, of St Andrew's Road, Didcot, pleaded guilty to five charges of indecent assault when he appeared at court earlier this month.

Nigel Daly, prosecuting, said Cleverley had assaulted the boy on numerous occasions while babysitting. He was arrested after the boy told his mother.

Sarah Drake, defending, said he accepted what he had done was improper, but had little understanding of sexual behaviour in general.

Judge Mary-Jane Mowat said her first duty was to protect young children and this would be best served by a course of treatment at the Thames Valley Project in Didcot.

Story date: Saturday 16 October

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