Child abuse exploitation material accessed by a Northern Tasmanian man was some of the worst ever, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard on Friday.
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Justice Robert Pearce commented as defence counsel Fran McCracken spoke of the emotional effect of the material accessed and possessed by a 42-year-old man.
"Some of these are worse than I have ever heard before," Justice Pearce commented.
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The man, whose name has been suppressed by Justice Pearce, pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to access and possess 19 child abuse material and bestiality material offences between 2010 and 2020.
Commonwealth prosecutor Krista Breckweg completed a statement of facts about the guilty pleas.
She said two of the counts related to the production of child exploitation material involving a high degree of planning and a breach of trust.
When the man uploaded it to the internet he collected 23 new like-minded friends.
In submitting that the offence was extremely serious, Ms Breckweg requested that Justice Pearce view a sample of the material.
"Looking at the material will demonstrate the level of depravity that words could not possibly convey," she said.
Ms Breckweg said the maximum penalty for 14 of the counts was 15 years in jail and up to 21 years for others.
She said that the Australian Federal Police found 9138 child abuse images and videos stored on seven electronic devices with 3256 in the worst category.
"This material represent hundreds of child witnesses," she said.
"It depicts babies, toddlers and under 10-year-olds in vile and desperate situations in which they are visibly distressed.
Bestiality material featured adult males and females involved in sex acts with dogs, horses and a cat.
While on bail in May 2020 the man used a Vivo mobile phone from 11pm to 4.45am to access 21 child abuse videos.
When Ms Breckweg referred Justice Pearce to previous cases to compare sentences he remarked: "None of these cases are as serious as this one".
Ms Fran McCracken said the man was originally from NSW and had an unremarkable upbringing.
She said he lost his job last year.
He had been in custody since August 2020 after being jailed for breach of bail.
She said he had never touched children.
"He initially accessed legal pornography but then his interests became more and more fringe and he eventually became desensitized," she said.
She said that videos often arrived in bulk and the man did not necessarily know what he was getting.
"While some are incredibly heinous he was not sexually aroused by all videos," she said.
Justice Pearce told the man he wanted to consider submissions and adjourned sentencing until March 24 at 2.15.
Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
