A SERIAL paedophile is facing a lengthy jail term after admitting to a sickening sex assault on a girl of just six.Ivan Arnold, 61, of Canham Street, Ipswich, already has a string of convictions dating back to the 90s for various sex offences.

A SERIAL paedophile is facing a lengthy jail term after admitting to a sickening sex assault on a girl of just six.

Ivan Arnold, 61, of Canham Street, Ipswich, already has a string of convictions dating back to the 90s for various sex offences.

However despite having previously signed the sex offenders' register on TWO separate occasions he lured a brother and sister into his home on June 5 after spotting the pair playing in a communal area in his street.

He then carried out a disgusting sex attack on the six-year-old girl.

Arnold was arrested three days later in a dawn swoop on his home after the young girl bravely recounted the harrowing incident to her parents who immediately contacted police.

Appearing at Ipswich Crown Court, Arnold pleaded guilty to a charge of a serious sexual assault of a child under 13, two charges of sexual assault of a child under 13 and a further charge of breaching a sexual offences order.

He is currently on remand at Norwich prison awaiting sentencing next month.

Arnold has previously spent two stints in jail for sex offences.

In March 1997 he was jailed for 12 months for indecently assaulting two schoolgirls in Landseer Park, Ipswich.

He was also made to sign the Sex Offenders' Register but was back in court for failing to update his details when he moved following his release from prison.

At a court hearing in 1998 Arnold told magistrates he was too scared to reveal his new whereabouts - he had moved to Vernon Street, Ipswich ­- because he had been “forced out” of his previous accommodation when neighbours learnt of his past.

He handed a 12-month conditional discharge by magistrates.

Four years' later, in 2002, Arnold was again jailed after being found guilty of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Arnold was labelled “a dirty old man” during his trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

It was claimed he touched the girl's bottom and tried to lift up her top at his flat in Vernon Street where a number of young people would gather to drink alcohol and smoke cannabis.

Arnold denied two offences of indecent assault, but was found guilty of one and cleared of the other.

In addition to a 30 month jail sentence, he was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.

Do you think sex offenders are monitored rigorously enough? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk