ANGRY crowds gathered outside the home of a convicted child molester last night demanding that he leave the area.

More than 60 protestors, including women and children carrying banners proclaiming "Sex Beast Out", gathered outside the boarded-up home of sex pest Charles Coverdale in Hindpool Close, Hartlepool.

The demonstration on the sprawling Central Estate followed a smaller protest earlier in the week after the former taxi driver was found guilty of indecently assaulting a ten-year-old boy.

The protest passed off peacefully but demonstrators are now calling on the housing authority to introduce rules to move on convicted paedophiles as part of council tenancy agreements.

Many said they were disgusted that Coverdale had been allowed to return to his home while awaiting sentence.

Coverdale is believed to have taken refuge with a relative elsewhere in the town.

Emotions have run high in Hartlepool since the 1994 murder of three-year-old Rosie Palmer on the Headland by neighbour Shaun Armstrong. One protestor said: "We don't want another Rosie Palmer here."

Mary Higham, who unwittingly moved in next door to Coverdale with her two children, said: "I had no idea what was going on or I would never have moved here.

"We told the council we would get him out if they didn't do anything. We don't want him back here, even if he has done his time."

She added: "I can't let my children out. They shouldn't be the ones caged up, he should."

Police adopted a low profile, with only two officers on duty outside the Hindpool Close house.

Two years ago, there were similar demonstrations in Hartlepool when a group of women discovered the address of a man released from prison after being convicted of child abuse.

Last week, 47-year-old Coverdale, a committed Christian who lives with his mother, maintained his innocence throughout his trial at Teesside Crown Court, and said he was just "messing around" with the child.

But the jury took less than two hours to find him guilty of three counts of indecent assault.

Coverdale, who could face jail for the assaults, is out on bail and will be sentenced later in the year after medical and probation reports have been prepared.