A 13-year-old schoolgirl was branded a “sexual predator” and accused of “egging on” a middle-aged paedophile by a judge who spared the man jail on Monday.

Judge Nigel Peters told Neil Wilson, 41, he had also taken into account the fact the child looked older.

Wilson took the teenager to his former home in Romford where he watched her strip out of her school uniform before she performed a sex act on him.

She had been playing truant from school.

The prosecution said sexual activity was “forced upon” Wilson by the girl and was not of his “doing”.

The abuse did not come to light until the teen confided in a friend who then told police.

During a search of Wilson’s home, officers uncovered images and videos depicting child abuse and bestiality.

He admitted a string of charges but was handed a suspended sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Judge Peters told him: “You have come as close to prison as is imaginable.

“I have taken in to account that even though the girl was 13, the prosecution say she looked and behaved a little bit older.

“You knew she was not nearly 16 as she said and your plea of guilty recognises that you knew.

“Allowing her to visit your home is something we have to clamp down on and in normal circumstances that would mean a significant term in prison.

“On these facts, the girl was predatory and was egging you on.

“That is no defence when dealing with children but I am prepared to impose a suspension.”

The Attorney General’s office has today agreed to look into the case and assess whether the sentence was too lenient after public outcry, including from anti-rape campaigners, change.org.

Wilson, who now lives in Herbert Street, York, was handed an eight-month jail term, suspended for two years, and will also be supervised by the Probation Service for the next three years.

He has been banned from contacting children and must allow police to examine his computer, as well as attending a sex offenders’ programme.

Wilson met the schoolgirl when she asked him to buy cigarettes for her while she was playing truant.

Prosecutor Robert Colover, told the judge: “The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced.

“She appeared to look around 14 or 15 and had the mental age of a 14 or 15 year old despite being younger than that.

“There was sexual activity but it was not of Mr Wilson’s doing, you might say it was forced upon him despite being older and stronger than her.

“As for the images, there were eight found of child pornography, four of which fall in to the category three.

“There were also 11 images involving horses and dogs found on his computer.”

Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts of making extreme pornographic images and one count of sexual activity with a child.

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said: “The case has been drawn to the attention of this office as a possibly unduly lenient sentence. This means it’ll be considered by a law officer (the Attorney or Solicitor General) who will decide whether it should be referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.

“The law officers have 28 days to make their considerations, this office will ask the CPS for more information on the case and the decision will be announced once all the information has been considered.”