A Warrnambool sex offender has been imprisoned for almost three years, but will only spend five months in custody before being placed on a good behavior bond after access online child pornography.

Benjamin McCarthy, 35, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool County Court to three charges - possessing child pornography and two counts of failing to comply with reporting conditions of being a registered sex offender.

Judge Claire Quin sentenced McCarthy to 34 months of imprisonment, with five months to be served before being released on a $1000 two-year good behaviour bond.

He has to complete a sex offender's program as a condition of the bond.

McCarthy has has already spent 15 days in custody, which is counted as time served.

He has now also been registered as a sex offender for life and his offending dates back to 2007.

McCarthy was placed on the sex offenders' register for 15 years after he was convicted in 2010 of charges, including procuring a minor for the purpose of making or producing child pornography.

While on the register he must report any contact with a child, as well as any creation of an online account, to police.

In November 2019, McCarthy spoke to a teenage girl on social media application Snapchat, but he ceased contact when he was told she was 15 years old.

But 13 months later he re-commenced contact which was not discovered until police raided his home on August 6 last year.

McCarthy told police he also failed to report that he'd joined online dating sites Tinder and Plenty of Fish.

Police located the 428 illegal child pornography images the same day, nine of which were actual photos of children and the rest cartoons..

The images were accessed by McCarthy between September 2020 and July 31 last year.

Judge Quin said although the majority of images were not of actual children, they normalised abuse of children and included depraved sexual abuse cartoons.

She said the offending was not sophisticated and was not motivated by profit, with McCarthy appearing to accessed the material for his own sexual gratification.

The judge said McCarthy's own admissions were the basis of the prosecution for some of the offending and she noted his cooperation with police.

She said McCarthy had not been diagnosed as a pedophile but he had an interest in teenage girls and she regarded his prospects of rehabilitation as only "fair".

Both the prosecution and defence agreed that an immediate term of imprisonment had to be served.

October 6: A Warrnambool registered sex offender caught accessing hundreds of child pornography images has also admitted to chatting to a teen girl online.

Benjamin McCarthy, 35, of Cramer Street, last year accessed 428 online child pornography images, nine of which were actual photos of children and the rest cartoons.

The man admitted to searching specific key words online, including "young daughter porn" and "young teen", the Warrnambool County Court heard on Thursday.

McCarthy pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and two counts of failing to comply with reporting conditions.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced later this month.

McCarthy was placed on the sex offenders' register for 15 years after he was convicted in 2010 of charges, including procuring a minor for the purpose of making or producing child pornography.

While on the register he must report any contact with a child, as well as any creation of an online account, to police.

Then in November 2019, McCarthy spoke to a teenage girl on social media application Snapchat.

Prosecutor Morgan Brown said when McCarthy was told the victim was 15, he replied: "Oh sorry then, bye".

But 13 months later he sent another message saying "hi".

Over the following months he continued to reply to photos posted by the victim on the app, with comments including "cute pic", "nice", and "hi, how old are you?".

The contact wasn't reported to police and was uncovered on McCarthy's phone during a raid at his home on August 6 last year.

Police also located the 428 illegal images that day.

Ms Brown said while the bulk of the images were cartoons, the "depravity" of the nine photos involving actual children was "objectively quite high".

She said the images were posted to a website and had been accessed by McCarthy between September 20 and July 31 last year.

She said McCarthy told police he also failed to report that he'd joined online dating sites Tinder and Plenty of Fish.

He was arrested and subsequently charged and bailed.

The court heard the man had a history of similar offending dating back to 2007.

He has never served time in jail and has previously undergone treatment targeting his paedophilic conduct.

A lawyer representing McCarthy said the offending was at the lower end of the scale and his client was cooperative with police.

He said McCarthy had a background of alcohol use, he suffered a mood disorder and had reverted back to "this kind of conduct" during the pandemic when work hours were decreased.

He will appear in court again later this month.

McCarthy is expected to be placed on the sex offenders' registry for life.

IN OTHER NEWS

Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: