POLICE were warned about a paedophile who went on to become a scout leader but no action was taken, it is claimed.

The Echo revealed last week how Daniel Carr, 26, of Shoebury High Street, admitted 11 online child sex offences, including five counts of inciting youngsters to send him naked photos online.

A mother from Shoebury, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has now claimed Carr was investigated ten years ago for sending inappropriate messages to her then ten-year-old son.

Although no charges were brought, the woman said officers told her Carr, who worked at a pre-school at the time, would be banned from working with children.

She only learned last week that despite the vow, the paedophile had become district treasurer for Southend West Scouts.

Although Carr was subject to a criminal records bureau check, the investigation did not show up because there was no conviction.

She said: “My son came to me and said something was not right. He had been speaking to Daniel for about four to five months on Microsoft Messenger.

“Daniel had posted something along the lines of ‘I have just got out the shower’. My son replied ‘I see’ and then Daniel wrote ‘I wouldn’t mind if you could see’.

“When I looked back through the messages there were quite a lot of links posted to gay porn sites.”

The woman feared her son was being groomed and contacted police.

Carr was interviewed and subsequently lost his job at the pre-school.

But when detectives came back to the woman she was told Carr had a low mental age and did not realise what he was doing was inappropriate.

She said: “I don’t know if they said he was slow or backward, but they suggested he had problems.

“They thought he might be a closet gay and that was why he did it.

“The police reassured me that he would not be allowed to work with kids again.

“I thought that I had done the right thing, I couldn’t bear the thought of him doing that to someone else.

“When I read in the paper that he had been a scout leader it churned my stomach. I couldn’t believe it.”

Last week, Carr appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court where he admitted three charges of downloading more than 200 indecent images of children, including 26 of the most serious category A images, 58 category B images and 137 category C images.

He also admitted three counts of distributing indecent images of children, including four category A images, two category B images and two category C images.

Five offences of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity took place between November 2015 and December last year.

Carr will appear for sentencing at Basildon Crown Court on Monday, July 31.

A Scout Association spokesman said Carr has now been permanently excluded. He said the scouts did not know about the original allegation.

He said: “Daniel Carr was suspended from the Association as soon as we aware of these matters. He will now be excluded permanently from the Scout Movement. It is of course appropriate that he is punished for his crimes.”

Essex Police did not respond with a comment.

The Echo contacted the pre-school involved but did not receive a reply.