Ashley Lapham, 23, pleads guilty in the Ballarat Magistrates' Court to involving a child in production of abuse material

Ashley Lapham, 23, began chatting to the nine-year-old, who lives in Queensland, while they were both playing Grand Theft Auto.

Lapham, who played the game under the username 'Evil As Hell', asked the victim to send pictures of himself naked for game credit and threatened to hack the boy's computer if he did not comply.

On July 21 last year, the child sent Lapham a number of 'full frontal images' of himself.

In reply, Lapham sent non-sexual photographs wearing a distinctive green top and sunglasses.

On July 31, Queensland police took a statement from the victim and alerted Ballarat police after conducting a subscriber check on 'Evil As Hell'.

Ballarat police executed a search warrant at Lapham's Ballarat East address on December 21 and located the green top and sunglasses.

Police also uncovered 595 other images of children involved in sex acts with adults and other children on his mobile phone.

In the police interview that followed, the accused told police the material stopped him from further offending.

"I don't want to do anything with kids, I don't want to touch kids," Lapham told police.

"It stops me from going out into the community."

Defence for the man said there was no grooming or planning in his actions.

"There was no intent to profit or intent to distribute, there was no cruelty and no physical harm to the victim," the defence said.

"The amount [of child abuse material] is slightly aggravating - it's in the hundreds but it's not in the thousands which we often see before the court."

Defence for Lapham said he had a traumatic upbringing that contributed to the offending and he had shown clear mental health issues, including suicidal ideation, and remorse.

"There is a chain and there hasn't been anything to break that chain so we would say there is a lowered level of moral [responsibility] ... due to his upbringing," the defence said.

The court heard Lapham smashed the video game console in the months before the search warrant was executed when he realised he had stepped "over the line".

"His understanding this is wrong, his understanding he has to challenge his own mind and his upbringing ... he is exceptionally ashamed of his behaviour," the defence said.

"He has continued to be suicidal throughout the proceedings."

But the police prosecutor said the Lapham's difficulties were hard to believe.

"We don't have any evidence of his upbringing ... only now in defence submissions [we hear] he's attempted suicide 100 times [in public]," the prosecutor said.

"Police have never dealt with the accused for these.

"It's hard to accept these things to be true and with the victim in this case being nine-years-old ... a nine-year-old playing these multiplayer games - it's his whole life.

"To then be threatened with hacking and deleting his account, that he would go to the lengths of providing naked photographs to someone online."

The prosecutor said jail time would be within range.

"In cases like this there needs to be strong general deterrence," he said.

"He needs to know he can't go back and offend like this without there being serious consequences."

Lapham pleaded guilty in the Ballarat Magistrates' Court to two charges of possessing of child abuse material and involving a child in the production of child abuse material.

Affected by this story? Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or headspace Ballarat (for 12 to 25-year-olds and parental support) on 5304 4777. Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.