A middle-aged man who police found with 66 videos of child sex abuse will spend six months in jail before he is released.
Lee Armstrong pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to possessing and accessing child exploitation material, and faced a maximum of 15 years in jail on both charges.
But at his sentence hearing last week, his lawyer Sam McLaughlin argued he should serve his sentence in the community by way of an intensive correction order, rather than behind bars.
Mr McLaughlin said Acting Justice David Robinson should consider that the majority of the videos police found on Armstrong's computer had already been in the device's recycle bin.
He said Armstrong would "peruse" the start of child abuse videos and, if they were to his liking, would watch them. He said if not, Armstrong would delete them right away.
"It is really, arguably, the viewing of the material [that results in the most harm]," Mr McLaughlin said.
"[Armstrong] has demonstrated an [intention] not to view that material any further."
Prosecutor Libby Sutton said one of the videos police found on Armstrong's computer was a one hour and 42-minute compilation of an eight-year-old child being abused, while another involved a tied-up child.
She argued the harm had been done to child abuse victims "when the file [was] downloaded".
"[Armstrong was] an active participant in the market, which fuels the industry," Ms Sutton said.
On Friday, Acting Justice Robinson did not opt to go with Mr McLaughlin's proposed course of action.
Instead, he sentenced Armstrong to a total 18 months in jail, but suspended the sentence after six months.
The judge said that, once Armstrong was released from prison on the suspended sentence, he would have to comply with a recognisance release order and be of good behaviour for 12 months.
If he did not, he could spend the rest of the prison term behind bars.
Acting Justice Robinson said Armstrong would also have to forfeit his laptop, which police found the videos on, to the Commonwealth.
After the judge made the orders, Armstrong was led down to the court cells.
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