A PROFOUNDLY deaf Linton man yesterday escaped a jail term despite admitting to possessing more than 500 child pornography images and videos.With the help of an Auslan translator, Alan George Etheridge, 57, pleaded guilty at the Ballarat Magistrates Court to one count of possessing child porn.He was fined $3000 with conviction, but was not placed on the registered sex offenders list because the prosecution did not request him to be.The court heard on March 11 last year, police conducted a search of Etheridge's home where they seized his computer and 200 A4 print outs of pornographic images.Analysis of the computer revealed a further 500 images and videos of an "anamatronic" nature, also described as cartoon-like.Police Prosecutor Sergeant Bob Anderson said when the material was discovered Etheridge said to the police: "They're only cartoons, they're alright aren't they?".The images, described by Magistrate Peter Couzens as graphic and highly disturbing, were of an incestuous nature.Defence lawyer Michael Wardell said his client was a founding member of a local nudist club, but stressed there was no suggestion his membership was designed for any kind of sexual gratification.He also said there was no link between the material and his involvement in the club and pointed out the images did not feature any real children or people.Mr Wardell said the images were put onto Etheridge's computer via a USB memory stick by an acquaintance who was attempting to speed up the processing of the computer.Though he did not introduce the material to the computer, Etheridge did admit to accessing it.In his defence, Mr Wardell said his client had experienced a difficult few years following the death of his father and the break down of his marriage shortly after.He also suffered a back injury at work and over time developed deep depression."He had quite a unique bond with his father," he said. "You could say they were best friends ... He felt this loss enormously."It was during this time, Etheridge became aware of a collective of naturalists in the Linton area and formed a club to create friendship and social interaction.His involvement with the club ceased following his arrest and Mr Wardell said he plans to leave the close-knit community of Linton where he now feels ostracised.Mr Couzens said he was very disturbed by a document included in the material that promoted sexual activity between family members.He also said he found it difficult to believe the explanation Etheridge gave as to how the material ended up on his computer."Although anamatronic, the images are nonetheless graphic and highly disturbing for they depict both visually and through captions sexual acts between adults and children, children and children and are of an incestuous context," Mr Couzens said.