A SEX offender who admitted breaching a court order and possessing indecent images of children has been warned he is likely to face a jail sentence.

Patrick Charles Bowen, 55, of Beech Road, Puddletown, pleaded guilty to nine offences of possessing indecent images of children when he appeared at Dorchester Crown Court.

The offences related to a total of 251 images, which were graded between level one and five with one five being the most serious. Bowen’s admissions concerned 98 grade one images, four at level two, 91 grade three, 57 at level four and one grade five.

He also admitted three charges of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) relating to an order made at Winchester Crown Court in May 2010.

The breaches involved seeking out and being in the company of three children under 16, which he was prohibited from doing by the order.

The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report and Judge Roger Jarvis said: “The number of images and the level of some of them will mean with some probability that there will be a sentence of imprisonment, there is also the breach of the SOPO.”

Bowen was remanded in custody and will return to court to be sentenced on May 30.