KITCHENER — A man with a history of sex-related crimes involving boys is back in custody after allegedly going to Victoria Park in downtown Kitchener.

Jeffrey McCartney, 54, was under two court orders to stay away from places children are known to gather when he was arrested Tuesday night.

One of the orders stemmed from his conviction in 2011 for possession and distribution of almost 20,000 images and 350 videos of child sexual abuse, mostly involving boys.

The other order was obtained under a special provision giving police the authority to closely monitor someone they fear will commit sexual crimes against children.

McCartney is charged with breaching several conditions of the orders, including a term to stay away from places such as parks, swimming pools and daycare centres, and another not to possess a device used to access the Internet.

He appeared briefly Wednesday in Kitchener court and was ordered to remain in custody pending a court date later this week.

McCartney received the equivalent of a four-year prison sentence in 2011 despite insisting he would "swear on the Bible" that he's "not into child porn."

His high-risk probation officer told a sentencing hearing that McCartney did poorly in counselling because he wouldn't take responsibility for his crimes.

Already on probation for a previous conviction for child pornography and other offences, he was sitting on a couch downloading more photographs when police arrested him at his Kitchener home.

McCartney's lengthy record includes criminal harassment of a much younger boyfriend who broke off their relationship over an alleged threesome with a 16-year-old boy.

He was also convicted of indecent assault and gross indecency more than 30 years ago, and received a 17-month jail sentence in 1995 for a hit-and-run crash that killed a six-year-old Cambridge boy.

Earlier this year, he was charged with shoplifting from a Kitchener grocery store and breaching a condition of the special court order by allegedly committing that crime.