A Canberra man who told police internet hackers might have targeted him because he was a Donald Trump fan as they uncovered thousands of child exploitation images and videos on his computer has been sent to jail.
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Mackenzie William Sutton, 36, was arrested in December after police raided his family's Nicholls home and discovered software used to access the dark net and erase an internet user's search history on his electronic devices.
Further searches and forensic analysis revealed more than 4000 images and 80 videos depicting child pornography, with more than 100 images and 30 videos classified as being in the most heinous category.
The ACT Supreme Court heard Sutton, who was convicted for child pornography in 2009, downloaded the material in the space of four weeks after he found himself in "a dark place" and unable to think about the consequences of his actions in November.
He initially denied knowledge of the images and videos and suggested he'd been targeted on the internet because of his support for the United States president and his right-wing political views.
He was charged and pleaded guilty to accessing and possessing child pornography.
Sutton, who has a mild intellectual disability, on Tuesday told the court he was ashamed of his behaviour and wanted to pursue further treatment to prevent him reoffending.
"I don't want to do that, I want to get as much help as I can so I don't do that again," he said.
He described his time behind bars as "very eye-opening" and he'd come to understand his offences and that there was a person behind the images he viewed.
"I've met actual real life victims who spoke to me and one told me because of what happened to him as a child he was still messed up because of it."
He acknowledged some of the children in the material found on his devices were obviously distressed.
In sentencing Sutton, Justice Michael Elkaim took his intellectual impairment into account.
He acknowledged his family support and said Sutton could be described as "a loner" who had few friends, was bullied and had been mostly unemployed.
But the judge, who viewed a sample of the material found on Sutton's computer in court, said it was "abhorrent" children depicted in the images and videos had been subjected to such "terror and humiliation".
He said the court needed to adopt "the most serious attitude" to child pornography offences. He accepted Sutton was vulnerable in prison but said the fresh charges were compounded by his previous convictions.
Justice Elkaim sentenced Sutton to two years' imprisonment, to be suspended after 18 months upon entering a three-year good behaviour order.
He ordered Sutton to take part in the adult sex offender program. He will be released next June.
