A Judge has jailed a sex offender for breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence after hearing the man went to a public swimming pool which young children attend.

Barry Watters (38) also described a sexual fantasty involving a 14-year-old girl he met in an amusement arcade to his probation officer.

In 2012 Watters received a four year sentence with the final year suspended for an extended time on strict conditions after he was caught repeatedly with child pornography.

Today Judge Martin Nolan activated the suspended portion of the sentence after hearing evidence that Watters has breached the court order to co-operate with the supervision of Probation Services.

In October 2012 Watters pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three counts of possession of child pornography at his former rented accommodation in Ongar, Dublin 15 on December 7, 2011.

The majority of the 81 child pornography images seized by gardai in this case were high quality “anime” cartoons depicting Asian children engaged in explicit sexual poses and involving sexual activity. About 20 of the images depicted actual children.

Watters was arrested in Dublin city centre last month over an allegation that he had exposed himself in public. The court heard that this matter is still under investigation but that charges for more serious offending may follow.

Probation Officer Janice McCabe told Ronan Kennedy BL, prosecuting,: “His behaviour has deteriorated. We’re not confident in supervising him.”

She said in a text message sent last month Watters called her a bitch and a rat and continued: “I will have my day. I will rise with the flames of hell behind me. The devil will help me”.

She said a decision was taken then by the Probation Service to bring Watters to court for breaching conditions of his suspended sentence.

Watters was released last March and later that month he made a request to use a Dublin city council swimming pool in the city, she said.

He was told that was inappropriate because children regularly use that pool. Ms McCabe said that Watters definitely had an issue with this.

She said he went to this pool on two occasions but later agreed to use a YMCA pool during adult only hours.

Last October Watters told the probation officer that he had been in an amusement arcade when a young girl, aged about 14, asked him the time. He said that he began asking her about the pop band One Direction and X-Factor to keep her talking even though he had no interest in either subject.

He told Ms McCabe that if the girl had asked him to go somewhere with her he’d have “jumped at the chance” and he went on to tell her what he’d have done to her sexually.

James McCullough BL, defending, put it to Ms McCabe that this was a manifestation of fantasy and not of intention and was in line with Watter’s work with therapeutic programme where he is encourage to talk out his sexual fantasies. He said that it was against his own interests to reveal this.

Counsel said that Watters, who is originally from Dundalk, has been exiled from his home place and pushed to the margins of society. He said he does not want to go back to prison and is prepared to accept stricter conditions on his release.

Judge Nolan said that the problem is that Watters has alienated the Probation Services. He said almost every meeting with the service staff is hostile and aggressive.

He said that probation officers expect difficulties but they’re entitled to some protection. The judge said that he could not inflict Watters on the Probation Services anymore.

“They have come to the end of their tether. He has a reservoir of hostility,” he said.

Ms McCabe said that in August there was an incident in Watters’ assigned hostel accommodation in which he appeared naked in front of a female staff member who had knocked on the door of his room and announced herself.

She said that the staff member was upset but that Watters felt he should be allowed to be naked in his own bedroom. There was a heated exchange between the hostel management and Watters.

She said there was also a dispute over Watters going on a fitness course to a college when gardai alerted the Probation

Services to the fact that the college and gym shared grounds with a creche, and primary and secondary schools. The court heard that the creche could be seen from the gym.

Ms McCabe said she informed Watters the parents of all these children would have to be informed if he was allowed to attend the course and this would pose issues for his safety. She told him the course at this college was unsuitable as a result but that he could attend a course at another college.

She said that Watters was upset over this and said he would like to cut the throats of officials in the service. He said that other sex offenders were attending at the gym.

She said he became angry and threatened to take legal actions or to go to a tabloid newspaper to say he was being victimised.

Ms McCabe said he talked about smashing the face of her supervisor. In October he said he contacted The Sunday World newspaper about this.

Watters has two previous convictions for possession of child pornography in 2008 and 2010 and re-offended on each occasion within a number of months.

In 2012 Judge Nolan imposed the four year sentence and suspended the final year for an extended period of two years on strict conditions.

Watters was ordered to remain under Probation Service supervision for two years following his release and obey all their directions including attending for assessment if required.

The images in Watters’ possession were rated from level one, being the least serious, to level 5, the most serious. One image was rated at level five and 45 were rated at level one, with the balance falling into the middle categories.

Watters received a two and a half year suspended sentence in 2008 after being caught in a garda intelligence led operation with thousands of pornographic images depicting actual children.

This sentence was activated after he pleaded guilty to a further possession of child pornography charge in 2010 and received a three year sentence. In that case he had been observed by a member of the public looking at images on a digital camera on a bus.

He also has a conviction for assaulting a female garda while in custody.

Mr McCullough said that his client understands he has serious difficulties and needs help to overcome them.