Mr O'Neill, from York, has lost touch with his children following the order

Police will tell any new partner he sees that he is 'potentially dangerous'

The 45 year old was given the SRO despite being cleared of rape at court

A father-of-two who was cleared of rape but has to tell police 24 hours before he has sex today revealed that officers will visit any new partner to tell her he is 'potentially dangerous'.

John O'Neill, 45, has even lost touch with his children who have 'deleted him on Facebook' despite being unanimously cleared after a retrial at Teesside Crown Court in November.

But North Yorkshire Police then controversially applied for a Sexual Risk Order (SRO), with a condition that he inform them a day before he has sex with a new partner.

Speaking today to Victoria Derbyshire on her BBC Two show, Mr O'Neill, from York, said the police applied for the order because of 'sour grapes' after they were 'humiliated' in court.

John O'Neill (pictured) has lost touch with his children following the Sexual Risk Order - despite being cleared of rape

He believes the police are responsible for his 'living hell' and also outlined the process officers will take to inform a potential partner about the order, a revelation which will leave them 'horrified', according to Mr O'Neill.

The IT consultant said 'convicted criminals don't get these kind of orders - it's obscene' and revealed that his children no longer speak to him.

He said that he has to inform police when he meets someone new and plans to start a sexual relationship - which includes 'sexual conversation' and 'kissing'.

Officers will then visit the woman with a disclosure document and ask them to sign a form before leaving.

Mr O'Neill, a former English literature student, said: 'I have to give a name, address and date of birth of any woman I intend to have any sexual contact with.

'It's broader than just having sex, it's ridiculous. It's sexual conservation, kissing is included, it's so sweeping - it's ridiculous. I could breach this order by accident'.

Mr O'Neill added: 'In theory, there is a disclosure document and what they (the police) will do is they will go around and say Mr O'Neill is subject to something called a Sexual Risk Order.

'He is considered to be potentially dangerous and then they ask that woman to sign a form and leave. And that's it.

John O'Neill - who was cleared of rape - has to tell police 24 hours before he has sex

'So can you imagine the horror of that? You've just met someone, and you're at the point where you're deciding whether to date and then that happens.'

He added: 'This has been devastating for people around me. The first thing that happened was my children won't speak to me now. They've deleted me from Facebook.

'One of my friends has been threatened with being fired just because she knows me. On a personal level it has been devastating.

'I spoke to their mother and we think the best thing to do is just to let the shock die down for a while.

'How horrific must be, seeing your father and his sex predilections spread across the internet.'

He added: 'We were amazed that the police had made the application after a unanimous acquittal of the only crime that I've ever been accused of.

'We think it's sour grapes. They lost in court, they didn't just lose, they were humiliated in court for having utterly failed to do any detective work apparently.

'They have their reasons, the reasons are, to get an SRO you need an act of an sexual nature which necessitates the risk order.

'The act on which they are relying is scratching and biting during sex. Now if that necessitates a Sexual Risk Order they're going to have to be writing an awful lot Sexual Risk Orders. I would suspect the majority of the population is going to be subject to a Sexual Risk Order.

'But the real reason is they lost a trial and they are using, misusing, this new set of laws to effectively put me on retrial for rape after an acquittal.'

He revealed that he hasn't had sex with anyone since the order was put in place.

If he breaches any part of the order he will potentially go to prison for 'potentially five years' and become a 'convicted sex offender'.

His history of S and M sex was brought up at the trial, including evidence from a doctor with whom he had discussed his past.

He has previously claimed the doctor misunderstood what he was discussing, saying she was confused about what was just fantasy.

Police thought what he told the doctor was a confession, he said at a previous hearing.

Mr O'Neill, 45, was tried for rape and unanimously cleared after a retrial at Teesside Crown Court in November

He said: 'Thank God Fifty Shades of Grey came out when it did, it helped my barrister normalise that.

The woman who accused him of rape said she was bitten and scratched, but Mr O'Neill denied the bite and said the scratch came during a massage after consensual sex.

At a previous hearing, he said there was 'no prospect' of a relationship at the moment because of the rules he has been forced to live by.

He gave the example of chatting to a woman and saying: 'There's a nice French restaurant I'd like to take you to, but first the police are just going to come around for a little chat.'

Other conditions of the order include him having to hand over the pin for his mobile phone to police, and not to use internet-connected devices which cannot be later checked by officers.

He decided, having taken legal advice, not to give them the pin code as a point of principle, because he said the conditions of SROs were supposed to be prohibitive, not obligatory.

The verdict on this breach will be decided on August 19 and if found guilty he will be classed as a sex offender.

He was arrested for breaching his SRO and was held in police custody overnight.

Mr O'Neill's identity was made public last week after an order protecting his anonymity was lifted at York Magistrates Court.