A 22-year-old Ross Creek man actively sought out horrific online child abuse material and traded it with others, writing he had "no limits" and preferred "six to eight-year-olds".
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Dylan Vincent Holland, now 24, pleaded guilty to five charges of sending, receiving, soliciting, accessing, and storing 46 child abuse material files at the County Court in Ballarat on Thursday.
Holland engaged in conversations on Twitter and the app Telegram over three months in 2020, at one stage publicly advertising he was hoping to talk about abusing children and receive images.
When police raided his house and seized electronic devices in October 2020, they found 46 images and videos, and logs of chats with online strangers which also included further images and videos.
The images and videos are too graphic to be described, but involved some children as young as infants.
The conversations read out in court, from Holland's Twitter username "addicted to cuties", included references to wanting to see graphic rape videos of young children and his own sexual gratification.
He also 'Liked' some publicly-viewable child abuse material on Twitter, which is the charge of accessing material.
The Crown prosecutor noted the conversations involved trading images and videos, and showed "enthusiasm" for more "depraved" material - "he was an enthusiastic participant in the online market for child abuse material," he told the court.
"He was not a silent participant, but in brazen fashion, solicited and engaged with five unknown people to exchange child abuse material, all abhorrent, some particularly so."
Other conversations found on Holland's devices, which he was not charged for, showed him discussing how "six to eight (year-olds) is my favourite age range".
Judge Bourke said it was "remarkable people can access this (child abuse material) on these platforms".
Defence for Holland noted he had experienced a troubled childhood and was seeking treatment for mental health conditions, was emotionally immature, and was smoking cannabis heavily at the time of the offences.
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Character references from Holland's family and partner, who were present in court, noted he was otherwise of good character, and there were no prior criminal convictions or offending alleged since his October 2020 arrest.
Holland's defence sought a "recognisance" sentence, or conditional suspended sentence, stating his mental health conditions could be aggravated in prison.
However, the prosecution noted despite the early plea of guilty and Holland's age and conditions, there was no clear evidence he understood the harm done to the victims in the videos, nor that he had sought treatment specific to his offending.
Judge Bourke said it was "depraved" offending, particularly the "modus operandi" of publicly asking for more material.
"He's set about finding people with similar interests to himself," he said.
"I've heard cases where there are much more images, but not as many cases where the word 'depraved' could readily be applied to.
"It's not just viewing images of these unfortunate children, but speaking of them in that way.
"These are real things happening to real children."
Holland's bail was extended until sentencing, which is expected to be later this month.
It's expected he will be placed on the sex offender registry for life, given the serious nature of the charges.
Affected by this story? There is help available.
You can phone the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, in Sebastopol, on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292.
Or phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380, or Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277.
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