THE Attorney General has declined to allow the courts the chance to jail a paedophile who abused a seven-year-old girl.

Lord Goldsmith QC, the Government's most senior lawyer, has concluded his investigation into the case of Anthony Lindus.

The 27-year-old, of Darlington, was handed a suspended jail term at Teesside Crown Court last month after admitting two counts of indecent assault.

Children's charities condemned the decision and said Lindus should have been jailed.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General said he had looked into the case but had decided not to send it to the Court of Appeal.

Lord Goldsmith has the power to send the case back to court if he feels a sentence is "unduly lenient".

The spokeswoman said:"We have to look at the case and refer it, if it is eligible.

The Attorney General is not going to refer the case."

The appeal courts would have had the power to increase Lindus's sentence and order him to be sent to prison.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Lindus was babysitting for the girl when he attacked her on two separate occasions.

Sentencing him, Judge John Walford said his offending was a breach of trust but it did not warrant a prison sentence.

He told Lindus: "I just hope they (the girl's parents) will find it within themselves to understand your limitations and accept my conclusions that a custody setting might, in fact, be even more likely to produce in you a problem in the future than if you were treated within a setting in the community."

The judge said he had taken into account that the offences were serious, the age of the victim, the fact she was assaulted twice and the effect on her and her family.

But he said that was set against the fact the defendant had no previous convictions and was vulnerable.

The stepfather of the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "The judge got it badly wrong.

"Surely our little girl is the one who was vulnerable.

"This man exploited that and should be behind bars."