A MOTHER who knew her schoolgirl daughter was having a sexual relationship with a paedophile told police: "She loves him. What can I do?"

Twenty-six-year-old Derrick Scollick used to meet the girl off her schoolbus in a North Yorkshire market town.

Teesside Crown Court heard how he even made a video of himself engaging in sex games with the youngster.

A judge who watched the video said the girl clearly consented, but jailed him for two years.

The girl's mother also effectively condoned the sexual relationship, telling police that her daughter was in love with Scollick, said Christopher Attwooll, prosecuting.

He said: "It came to the attention of the police and Social Services that the defendant, who was known as a high-risk sex offender, was in contact with her and other girls.

"The mother knew that he was in a sexual relationship with her daughter and effectively condoned it, saying: 'She loves him. What can I do?'. It developed into sexual activity which he videoed on his mobile phone."

Scollick was using the surname Borthwick in 1997, when he was jailed for four years for the attempted rape of an 11-year-old girl whose family he had befriended.

He was later fined for failing to tell police he had changed his name and address.

John Gillette, mitigating, said the girl had written to Scollick in prison, and wanted to resume the relationship.

Judge George Moorhouse said he was passing a sentence for the protection of the public and leaving any decision over Scollick's release date to the Parole Board.

Scollick pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual activity with a girl under 16, and one of possession of an indecent video of a child.

The judge told him: "I give you credit for the fact that this was a consensual relationship."

Scollick, from Steads Yard, Market Place, Thirsk, was jailed for two years and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.