A man who was convicted for unlawful carnal knowledge of young girls received a sharp warning from Chief Justice Richard Ground yesterday.

The man appeared in Supreme Court to have conditions of his parole amended and was told that but for a procedural issue he would have been sent to jail immediately.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted on November 2, 2004 of three counts of having unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 14. He was sentenced to probation.

In October, his parole officer, Paul York, asked that new conditions be added to his probation. In particular that he refrain from contact with any female under the age of 16 and undergo any treatment probation officers deemed necessary.

However, yesterday Mr. York recommended that the man be penalised for breaching his parole because he had failed to show up to any of their scheduled weekly meetings in two months.

The man said he had a new job and was too busy to make the meetings.

He also claimed that he had attempted to call Mr. York several times, though Mr. York denied that.

Justice Ground told the man that a breach of his probation had serious consequences.

He said: “It is not funny. You have a probation order that kept you out of prison. In prison you do not have a job or a boss.

“Society views you as a danger, when they view people as a danger they lock them up particularly when society does not want them messing with little girls.”

He added that because the paper work had not been updated from an amendment to a probation order to a breach of a probation order prior to the court session, his hands were tied and he was unable to send the man to prison for the remaining 15 months of his sentence.

He said: “At this point I am not committing you back to prison because of a procedural issue. Had it not been for the procedural difficulty, I would have sent you back to prison today so you have got a break. Show that you can comply with the probation order.

“This takes precedent over everything else in life.

“You have a chance at life or you can continue hanging around little girls and throw your life away.”

The man will appear before the Chief Justice on March 1 for a review of his probation.

He was told that if he did not comply with the new alterations to his order and meet with his probation officer, he could be sent to prison.