A dangerous paedophile who is facing a life sentence for serious sex offences against a teenager has been released on bail by a judge who said last week he would have been inside. But after the Home Secretary's remarks about prison overcrowding, Judge Graham Cottle said he had to release Keith Morris on bail. At Exeter Crown Court, 46-year-old Morris, from Ilsington, pleaded guilty to three offences of causing a person under 16 to engage in sexual activity without consent and one of sexual activity with a child under 16. The court heard from a police officer that concerns had been expressed by the headmaster of a nearby school that Morris had been seen in in its vicinity. PC Mike Smart said although Morris was not currently the subject of any Sexual Offences Prevention Order, the dangerous offenders' officer had been to see him because he had been seen near school property. PC Smart said the police were considering seeking a prevention order because of the concerns expressed by the school. Judge Cottle, the resident judge of the Western Circuit, said: 'There are difficulties remanding people in custody at the moment and the only reason I am having any discussion about this is because of those difficulties. If this case had been here last week it would have been over by now and he would be in Exeter Prison.' The judge told Morris: 'Because of the rather unusual circumstances in operation at the moment I am going to release you on bail, but to meet the concerns expressed by the police about the school I am going to curfew you from 8am to 5pm.' The judge said that because the offences to which Morris had pleaded guilty carried a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, he faced imprisonment for public protection. 'I need a pre-sentence report to address the issue of dangerousness,' said Judge Cottle. And he warned Morris: 'The fact that I am granting you bail does not mean that you will receive anything other than a custodial sentence. There is no safe of sensible alternative to a prison sentence.' Morris was arrested after complaints were made about his sex activities with a teenage boy at a house in Torquay. The four offences to which Morris pleaded guilty were committed between May 2004 and April 2006. Morris, of Drewsmead, Ilsington, has previous convictions for sex offences against young boys and admitted to police that he had 'a problem with children,' and was 'attracted to young boys'. In 1980, Morris was convicted of indecent assault on a 14-year-old boy and gross indecency with a 10- year-old boy. He was then jailed for six months. In 1989, he was convicted of indecent assaults on boys aged six, eight and 10. On that occasion he was jailed for 30 months. Sentence on Morris was adjourned for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.