A 27-year-old man has been jailed for 15 months after pleading guilty to possessing 1,451 files of child exploitation material.
Michael Taylor was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania this month, with Justice Michael Brett describing much of the material as “serious and depraved”.
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Police uncovered the extensive collection during a search in November 2021, finding files stored across multiple devices, including mobile phones, an SD card and a USB drive.
The files were categorised by authorities under the Interpol system as 959 category one files, 272 category two files and 220 category three files.
Justice Brett told the court the material depicted the abuse of children and infants.
“There are numerous examples of videos depicting the sexual and physical abuse of very young children,” he said.
Taylor was 23 at the time of the seizure and had no prior convictions.
He resigned from his job shortly after his arrest and has not worked since, due to what the judge said were strict bail conditions.
The court heard Taylor suffers from mental health issues, including major depression. Justice Brett said a psychologist has also suggested Taylor may have autism.
He noted that while there was no link between Taylor’s mental health and the offending, it would make prison “particularly difficult” for him.
“The collection and possession of child exploitation material creates a market which encourages and provides a reason for the production of such material,” Justice Brett said. “Courts will not tolerate such conduct.”
The judge said the original sentence would have been 18 months but was reduced because of Taylor’s guilty plea.
He will be eligible for parole after serving eight months and has been placed on the sex offender register for five years.
