Jon Vendables is said to be a target in prison after fellow inmates discovered his identity.
The killer, who murdered two-year-old James Bulger with friend Robert Thompson in 1993, is back in jail after child pornography was found on his computer.
A lifetime order has been granted stating that his name should not be revealed but other prisoners have found out who he is and it’s thought he could come to harm whilst in confinement.
Jon is escorted by three officers when he goes to the visiting room in a bid to stop other convicts causing trouble for him.
A source told The Sun: “The screws were talking about it because they don’t care who knows. There’s a price on his head and most of the jail would like to have a pop at him, but no one will be able to get to him.”
An anonymity order was given to murderers Jon and James in 2001 and identifying them would breach this.
After a possible identification on social media, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office said: “We have received a complaint that the anonymity order has been breached and we are investigating.”
Two men who previously posted pictures of people they claimed to be Venables and Thompson online were handed nine-month sentences, suspended for 15 months, and breaking the order can carry a sentence of two years.
Jon has been back in prison on more than one occasion after his initial release in 2001.
He was arrested for affray and possession of cocaine in 2008, started a two-year sentence in 2010 for the possession of indecent images of children, and was put behind bars again earlier this month for the same crime.
Venables and Thompson abducted two-year-old James from The Strand shopping centre in Bootle in February 1993 when they were both 10 years old.
They tortured and killed the toddler before his body was discovered on a railway line by brothers Terence and James Riley who were aged 13 and 14 at the time.