A sex offender who was released from an indefinite sentence after being deemed safe by the parole board has been sent back to jail after he broke an order to stay away from children.

Jason Gatting had been out of jail for just 12 months before police who were monitoring him discovered that he had been visiting a friend who had children.

He befriended the father of the children without revealing his background as a sex offender and went back to his flat in Ilfracombe after drinking.

Gatting, aged 43, who is now back in Channings Wood Prison at Newton Abbot, received an indefinite sentence for public protection (IPP) at Exeter Crown Court in 2007 after he admitted sexual assaults against two girls aged seven to nine.

He was released in December 2016 and made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) which restricted his future contact with children.

Gatting admitted breaching the SOPO and was jailed for six months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He has been recalled on his original IPP and will not be released until his case is considered afresh by the parole board.

The judge warned him that may mean many more years in jail because he is now considered as posing a high risk to children by the probation service.

The judge told him: ‘You say you did not tell the father about your conviction because you were worried about his reaction. You thought he would react badly and told the writer of the probation report he would have given you a good hiding.

‘Doubtless the father was extremely upset and worried when the police spoke to him. You put him in a very difficult position and put yourself within arms reach of temptation.’

Mr Tom Bradnock, prosecuting, said Gatting was released in December 2016 and his offender manager became aware of the breach of the SOPO a year later when he was living in Ilfracombe.

The SOPO meant he was forbidden from any contact with children unless he had told the parent or parents about his conviction.

He broke the condition by going back to the flat in Ilfracombe after he had been out drinking with the father.

Mr Richard Crabb, defending, said Gatting had never been left alone with the children and there is no suggestion that he behaved inappropriately towards the children while visiting the flat.