A CHILD abuse victim has spoken of his horror after two convicted paedophiles contacted him on Facebook.

Police said they were investigating whether Colin Barlow and Alf Farley, who met in prison, have been working together to track down previous victims on the social networking site.

Earlier this year, public protection officers went to court to ask for stricter conditions on the Sexual Offences Prevention Orders placed on Barlow, 49, from Burnley, and ‘like-minded’ Farley, 60.

The duo, who are said to have bonded while staying at bail hostels in Blackburn and Manchester, had been planning trips to France together.

Now, they are under investigation again after one of Farley’s victims contacted the Lancashire Telegraph.

The 33-year-old man was one of several young boys abused by Farley in his HGV cab or on cross-channel ferries in the early 1990s.

But after almost two decades, he was ‘stunned and scared’ to get a Facebook message from Barlow, asking him to contact Farley.

Barlow is banned from using the internet as part of his SOPO.

The man, who must remain anonymous, said: “It just brought it all back after all this time.

"It was pure panic. I’ve been trying to get on with my life for so long and then something like that just knocks me right back.

“I didn’t know the name Colin Barlow, but seeing the name Alf Farley and a contact number left me absolutely petrified.

“The worrying thing is how many other victims are they both trying to get at in this way?”

His mother said: “These people are very clever in what they do.

"It is not hard to find out from people’s Facebook accounts where they live and who their family is.

“They are supposed to be visited on a regular basis and should not be able to access the internet.

“For Alf Farley to put my son in this position, using another convicted paedophile to do his dirty work so he doesn’t get into trouble is disgusting.

“When he got the message he was shaking. I’m worried about his state of mind because this has all been raked up again.

"He seems to be looking over his shoulder all the time.

“I want answers from the police on what they’re doing about these two men working together to target innocent victims all over again.”

The Facebook message reads: “From Colin Barlow, June 11, at 14:53.

"A friend of mine is trying to get in contact with you, Alf Farley.

"He says that he will fully understand if you do not wish to have contact, but hopes you will.

"His contact number is XXXXXXXXXXX.

I am merely a messenger so please do not react against me.

"If you want me to pass on any message I would be more than willing to.

Yours, Colin.”

Farley was jailed for 10 years in 1998 for molesting schoolboys in his lorry and met Barlow during their time in custody together in HMP Wymott, Leyland in 2004.

Detectives from Eastern division’s Public Protection Unit put Barlow back before Burnley Crown Court in October.

It means Barlow, who has a string of convictions for child sexual offences dating back more than a decade, can be more closely monitored.

Barlow had been living in a bail hostel in Blackburn, but is now back in the Burnley area.

He used to live in Rhoda Street, Nelson.

He was jailed for seven years in 2000 for a series of sexual offences against children.

He was locked up again in December 2007 and December 2009 for possessing indecent images and then breaching his lifetime Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Police believe Barlow sees Farley as ‘something of a father figure’.

Barlow was already banned from unsupervised contact with girls under 18, using computers, data storage devices and accessing the internet under his existing SOPO.

The crown court also banned Barlow from associating with Farley in public without consent from a PPU officer.

A spokesman for Lancashire POlice said: “A joint investigation is currently on-going between Lancashire Constabulary and Greater Manchester Police following an allegation made to police on June 14, 2011 by a victim of a sexual offence who has been contacted through a social networking site therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

A Facebook spokesman said it was investigating the message.

He said: “It is a breach of Facebook's terms to attempt to use Facebook as a convicted sex offender and Facebook works aggressively to remove profiles that are reported to it.”

The spokesman advised that in the UK, the details of registered sex offenders are not shared with online service providers as they are in the USA, which makes it more difficult to enforce.