A TENBY man who 'groomed' a little girl for sex has been jailed for five years.

Barry Hollingsworth, aged 62, was also made the subject of a three-year extension to the sentence which means that after his eventual release he will be liable to be recalled until the end of 2012.

Hollingsworth, of Upper Hill Park, Tenby, had been convicted by a jury at Swansea Crown Court of indecently assaulting the six-year-old on three separate occasions. But he was cleared of attempted rape and one additional charge of indecent assault on the direction of the judge.

After the verdicts it emerged Hollingsworth had previous convictions for exposing himself to ten-year-old girls.

Judge Gerald Price ordered Hollingsworth to register with the police as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The jury heard how Hollingsworth took advantage of his job to take an interest in the girl. Frank Phillips, prosecuting, said the offences first came to light in 2001. But they were not reported to the police at the time.

Two years later the girl repeated the allegations and this time the police became involved.

Mr Phillips said Hollingsworth had effectively begun 'grooming' the girl for sex by indecently assaulting her and then rewarding her with ice cream.

It was difficult to be sure how many times he had assaulted her because the girl herself could not be precise.

A clue to Hollingsworth's intentions could be drawn from the fact that he maintained contact with the family even after the initial allegations surfaced.