Ballarat man caught with hundreds of child porn photos

Appearing in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Patrick Cronin pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing child pornography and possessing cannabis.

The court heard a laptop, phone and two grams of cannabis were found during a search warrant at his Ballarat North home in December.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Pepe Brown said 62,340 images were found during an analysis of the laptop, with 612 images showing examples of illegal child exploitation.

He said a number of the 612 images included sexual activities with toddlers and pre-pubescent children.

During a police interview Cronin said he went through stages of sleep deprivation and could not remember what he did during that time.

He told police he has woken up with child exploitation on his laptop, but could not recall how it was downloaded.

He also told police he "had no self control" and felt awkward walking past schools.

Cronin's lawyer, Roberta Page, said her client had an addiction to cannabis since his early teens and had relapsed into using synthetic cannabis at the time of offending.

She said he began looking at adult pornography four to five years ago and found himself becoming addicted to things easily.

Ms Page said Cronin recognised the horrific impact it had on children and told the magistrate her client did not create the pornography or distribute it.

"He is trying to address his offending ... and make amends to the community," she told the court.

The magistrate told Cronin children suffered life-long consequences due to offending such as this.

"People who subscribe to it encourage it, he said.

"That damage to children is at the heart of it." 

He said rehabilitation was important, and whether or not a jail term was imposed, he believed a community corrections order should form part of the sentence.

Sentencing was adjourned to July 27 while a CCO assessment is completed.