A young girl abused by a paedophile was barred from telling a court about the trauma she had suffered.

The Argus reported on Wednesday that Judge Anthony Thorpe had sparked outrage when he allowed pervert Nelson Doe, 61, of Hillside, Patching, to walk free after he was convicted of groping and having sex with the girl.

It has emerged his victim was told that an emotional letter she wrote about the abuse would not be admissible in court because it was not written under oath.

Yet the judge was persuaded not to jail Doe after allowing the defendant's own daughter, Emma, 32, to give her father a glowing character reference.

The victim's mother said: "I was upset when I found out he wouldn't read the letter but when I found out Emma Doe's statement could be read and she was allowed to come forward to speak from the witness box, I was horrified.

"The letter my daughter wrote is heartbreaking. It came from the heart."

Doe, 61, admitted having sex with the girl twice and intimately groping her on another occasion between September 2004 and September 2005. As he delivered his sentence, Judge Thorpe told Doe: "You have escaped prison by a hair's breadth because of your daughter. This is a remarkably lenient sentence."

The victim's mother said she had not been told her daughter's letter would not be accepted when she delivered it to the court.

In the letter the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "When I went to school a lot of people were very nasty to me but they didn't understand. I hated it when everyone came up to me saying I know how you are feeling.

"But they didn't know - no one does. I started to get very angry to the point where I wouldn't let anyone get close to me.

"At school I wouldn't let the teachers touch me. At home I would rarely give my mum a cuddle. I just stayed in my room with the door locked and cut myself."

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the letter had to be in the proper legal format to be considered.

The CPS is considering pushing for a more punitive sentence in the Court of Appeal.

The Argus has been asked to point out Nelson Doe, 64, of Durrington Lane, Durrington, is not connected to or associated with the case.