admitted indecently assaulted a young boy over a six year period.

Andrea Irene tucker was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to a charge of indecent assault on a male under 14 years of age.

A condition of the probation was that Tucker, 37, who was babysitting the boy for six years, continued to receive psychological counselling.

But the Crown described the sentence as "manifestly inadequate'' and appealed against it.

The assault involved Tucker, a certified nursery teacher, kissing the boy, fondling his penis and getting him to handle her breasts, over a two year period.

Later she removed their clothes and encouraged sexual acts between them including oral sex. He finally reported the offences when he was 14.

The judge in the trial claimed it was a serious case of indecent assault on a young child, and described the defendant as "socially immature and dependent female with serious developmental inadequacies.'' Crown Counsel Mr. Stephen Harrison claimed the judge did not give sufficient weight to the gravity of the offence, the youth of the victim and the position of trust of the defendant.

President of the Court of Appeal, the Hon. Sir Denys Roberts said experts could not assess whether there would be any lasting effect on the victim.

Sir Denys said: "Before deciding that a probation order was appropriate, the judge appears to us to have taken into account the various aspects of this case which are of importance.

"In the course of his judgment, he comments that `in my judgment a term of imprisonment would neither be of benefit to the defendant nor is it called for by society generally.' "We do not doubt that the judge was adopting a merciful course. But we cannot say that the order which he made was so manifestly inadequate as to call for intervention by this Court.

"While we appreciate the reasons which have led the Crown to seek leave to appeal against the sentence we must refuse it.''