A former recluse has avoided time behind bars despite a judge finding his actions encouraged "evil people" to sexually abuse children.
Taylor Cameron Dean, 24, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday to an intensive correction order and three suspended jail terms.
Acting Justice Peter Berman directed him to perform 300 hours of community service as part of the 22-month intensive correction order.
Dean had previously pleaded guilty to four charges laid after he possessed, accessed and transmitted child abuse material between May 2019 and November 2020.
Last week, the court heard Dean had possessed 604 unique files, accessed 56, and transmitted 20 by uploading them to his Microsoft OneDrive account.
On Thursday, Acting Justice Berman said Dean had "faced a number of challenges" in life.
These included autism spectrum disorder, which contributed to him becoming socially isolated and struggling to make friends when he moved to Canberra at the age of 17.
"He found that he had nothing to do all day and every day," Acting Justice Berman said.
The judge detailed how Dean developed an addiction to adult pornography by staying home and watching it for hours on end.
As the years went by, Dean began to find this "monotonous" and started to watch child abuse material, despite knowing it was wrong, as he searched for greater stimulation.
Dean described his descent into viewing the sexual abuse of children, some of whom were as young as two, as going down "a rabbit hole".
Federal prosecutor Cecilia Pascoe urged the court to find child abuse material was "not at the sinister end of pornography", describing it as "a different beast entirely".
Acting Justice Berman ultimately agreed, though he also accepted defence lawyer Edward Chen's submission that Dean's social isolation had led to a pornography addiction.
That addiction had, in turn, created the circumstances in which Dean committed his crimes.
The offences were, according to Ms Pascoe, serious enough to warrant a full-time jail term.
Mr Chen, on the other hand, pushed for an intensive correction order, arguing Dean had "completely transformed his life" since the offending by obtaining work and getting married.
Acting Justice Berman went down the latter road on Thursday, saying the key factors in his decision had included the fact Dean had wanted to get professional help before his arrest.
Since then, the judge said Dean had attended counselling and been able to demonstrate, rather than merely promise, rehabilitation.
"[Dean] is unlikely to reoffend," Acting Justice Berman said.
However, he said it was important to make clear "just how wrong" child abuse material was.
Acting Justice Berman said it was "awful to understand that depraved people exist ... abusing and harming innocent children".
Offenders like Dean encouraged these "evil people", the judge added, by seeking out the vile material and fuelling a market for more of it.
While on the intensive correction order, Dean must hand over his electronic devices to police or ACT Corrective Services for examination if he is asked to do so.
He is also banned from travelling interstate or overseas without the prior permission of his probation officer.
