A COURT HAS issued a warrant for the arrest of a sex offender who gardaí have previously said is a risk to the public because of his “predilection for juveniles”.

In 2015 Judge Martin Nolan ordered that the 67-year-old Dublin man cannot be identified despite evidence that he is a risk to the public because of his risk of re-offending and his alcohol abuse issues.

Judge Nolan then imposed a five-year order under the 2001 Sex Offenders Act which set strict conditions on the man, including that he have no interaction with children and not loiter where children gather.

Evidence of breach

Last year Judge Patricia Ryan heard evidence that the man had breached this court order by attempting to communicate with children.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the man, who has two previous convictions for sexual assault, had attempted to talk to children out playing. He was intoxicated at the time and a garda observed him with his hand on his crotch and his zip undone.

At the time Judge Ryan noted the Probation Service’s proposals for a multi-agency plan to address the man’s risk of re-offending and his accommodation needs.

She imposed an 18-month sentence which she backdated to the date of the offence and suspended the balance on condition he comply by all directions of the Probation Service and remain abstinent from non-prescription intoxicants.

On Monday the man appeared before Judge Ryan again on foot of an application by the Probation Service. A Probation Service officer told the court that the man didn’t attend a counselling appointment.

Risk assessment test

She said “the bottom line is he continues to drink” and said his drinking has caused management problems at his hostel. The man previously scored high on a risk assessment test, which would have considered his alcohol abuse problems as a contributory risk factor.

John Byrne BL, defending, said his client is an alcoholic but is attending AA meetings and that there is no other evidence of further breaches.

This morning the man failed to show up for a court appearance and Judge Ryan issued a bench warrant for this arrest.

In 2007 the man was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for the sexual assault of a juvenile. He was convicted again in 2008 of another sexual assault and sentenced to two years with one suspended.

In 2010 he was released from Dublin’s Arbour Hill prison, subject to a condition that he comply with the directions of the Probation Services for five years.

The sex offender order, which lasts for five years, had originally been made by Judge Nolan in February 2015 under Section 16 of the 2001 Sex Offenders Act.

At the time Chief Superintendent Patrick Leahy told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the man was a risk to the public.

In an affidavit to the court Chief Superintendent Leahy said in November 2013 the man was alleged to have been drunk near a mosque where a lot of children were gathering at night for prayers.

He is alleged to have exposed his genitals and to have groped a child and masturbated in a laneway. A file on this incident has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

In another incident in Dublin city he was seen sitting on a wall across from a playground staring at children aged nine and 10. He was drinking at the time and when asked why he was there he appeared to be in “an excited state”.