A man exposed himself and performed a sex act near a school, a court has heard.

Jonathan Keegan, 53, has a dozen previous offences of exposing himself and outraging public decency on his record. Despite this, an experienced probation officer has been unable to find the causes of his behavior. Sending Keegan to prison, a judge told him there seemed to be no sign of him stopping his behavior. The judge warned that if he continues to offend in the same way, the courts would lock him up for longer and longer periods.

Swansea Crown Court heard the defendant's latest offending happened at around 3pm on October 3 this year in a park near a Neath school. A woman walking in the area saw Keegan with his penis exposed and pleasuring himself. Although children were in the area walking home from school, the offending didn't happen in front of them.

The incident was reported to police, and the defendant was arrested. Jonathan Patrick Keegan, of Meadow Road, Melin, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to exposure and to breaching a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court heard he has previous convictions for seven offences of indecent exposure, seven of breaching a SOPO, and five of outraging public decency.

David Singh, for Keegan, said to call the defendant's history of offending "unenviable" would be an "understatement" and said even the experienced author of the pre-sentence report had been unable to gain any real insight into the defendant's behavior. Judge Paul Thomas KC said while the defendant had clearly been under the influence of drink or drugs on the day, not even an experienced probation officer had been able to get to the roots of Keegan's behavior. He said there appeared to be no sign that the behavior Keegan had exhibited over the years was going to change, and he told the defendant that if he continues to offend in the same way the courts would impose longer and longer sentences.

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Keegan was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. He will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. He will be a registered sex offender for the next seven years.