A PAEDOPHILE who fled to the Republic of Ireland only to be tracked down and extradited back to the UK has been jailed.

Michael Rowley, 43, was on the run for almost three years until he was arrested again in February.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday that Rowley indecently assaulted a 13-year-old girl, touching her sexually on ten different occasions between July 1999 and July 2001.

Police also found 168 images of children on his computer - one as young as four years old - which were described as "very nasty" by a judge.

Peter Moulson, prosecuting, said Rowley, whose last address was Jackson Street, Brotton, east Cleveland, sat the girl, now aged 19, on his knee to assault her, and kissed her breasts on another occasion.

He also filmed her with a video camera while she was naked getting into a shower.

The abuse went unreported until the girl told her mother and schoolfriends and the police were alerted, arresting Rowley in June 2002.

The defendant then absconded to the Republic of Ireland before his trial in April 2003.

He was finally arrested on February 24 this year with the help of the victim's family, and brought back to Cleveland to face justice.

Rowley pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault, three of which were specimen charges, and 15 counts of making indecent photos of children. He also admitted breaching his bail.

Paul Cleasby, mitigating, said Rowley, who did not contest the extradition, had essentially "buried his head in the sand" and had been on the run from his responsibilities.

He said: "In a sense it has come as a relief to him that he was arrested and brought back before the courts."

Mr Cleasby said Rowley had no previous convictions, but now faces having to start his life again from scratch since he had lost everything.

Jailing him for four years and seven months, Judge Roger Scott said: "I am satisfied that there is a need to protect the public and children in particular from serious sexual harm."

The judge said Rowley would be registered as a sex offender for life and would also be barred from having any contact with children or working with them, accessing the Internet, or having any contact with his victim.

He said if he breached these terms he would be locked up for a further five years.