A self-described "image consultant" who possessed a horrific video of a child being raped and murdered could face time behind bars when he is sentenced later this year.
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Bradley Payne-Moore faced a sentence hearing in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday, telling the judge he had turned to pornography as a homeless and jobless young man.
"Unfortunately, that led me to where we are today," he said.
He said that over time he had gone looking for more "obscure" but "still legal" pornography, and downloaded a "megafile" of 6000 images, which the illegal images were part of.
"That's not what I was looking for," he said.
He said he had only never looked at the more serious images police found on his computer.
Payne-Moore claimed to have later deleted the file, but when police came knocking at his Watson home in 2019 they found 137 child abuse material images on his devices, including depictions of bestiality and a "snuff film" that showed the murder of a young girl.
Prosecutors told the court there was evidence eight of the 137 files were viewed on different devices and on different occasions.
The 32-year-old has pleaded guilty to two charges relating to using the internet to possess child exploitation material.
The small business owner, whose company "Guardian Gents" helped men with everything from grooming to career advice, told the court: "I struggled to help myself in the way I help others."
He denied when cross-examined by the prosecutor that he had a sexual preference for children: "Absolutely not."
He also denied he was retrofitting his story to fit with the evidence.
The court heard he would argue for leniency because of how he had already been punished by losing friends and his business folding in light of his crimes.
His lawyer said Payne-Moore had taken steps to rehabilitate himself and sought counselling until he ran out of money.
You must understand how serious, how appalling, how depraved these offences are.
- Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson
But the prosecutor said that would not be enough to reduce his sentence and avoid jail.
He said only a sentence of full time custody would be appropriate.
Some 20 per cent of the images found in Payne-Moore's possession were described as category 4, which meant they showed penetrative sex.
Payne-Moore, whose liberty hangs in the balance, also copped a warning from the judge.
"You must understand how serious, how appalling, how depraved these offences are," Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson told him.
"And how important it is to understand these are not victimless ... these are not videos, these are human beings."
The judge ordered an intensive corrections order assessment but warned Payne-Moore that did not mean he would get one.
He was listed for sentence before Justice Loukas-Karlsson on May 12.
