Raymond Hurt, 34, was released from custody in February 2020 after spending eight months behind bars for child exploitation material offences.

These were detected after the Hawker man's then-partner sold his old phone to Cash Converters, where staff spotted what was described as "some quite serious child pornography on it".

Hurt was subject to good behaviour and recognisance release orders when he got out of prison, but he breached both by committing further crimes.

Police, having received information about the uploading or transmission of child abuse material through Snapchat, raided the 34-year-old's home in July 2020.

Investigators found child abuse material on his new phone, leading to charges of transmitting, accessing and possessing such files. Hurt pleaded guilty to all three.

The transmission charge related to 357 pictures and seven videos, while the access one covered 104 different photos.

All these pictures, plus another 25, were referred to in the possession charge, together with 48 further videos.

Hurt's recidivism made him subject to relatively new mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which came into effect for some federal child sex charges last year.

Because he had already been convicted of such a charge, his most recent possession offence carried a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in jail.

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This length of time is precisely what Justice David Mossop imposed on that charge last month.

The ACT Supreme Court judge also handed Hurt an additional one year and three months as he sentenced him for the other two most recent offences, and resentenced him for the breach of the good behaviour order.

The total effective sentence, backdated to the date of the 34-year-old's arrest in July 2020, does not expire until October 2025.

Judges still have complete discretion in setting the minimum amount of time offenders actually spend in custody under the new laws, and Justice Mossop set a non-parole period that will make Hurt eligible to apply for release in March 2023.

Justice Mossop said in sentencing that Hurt was a father of three daughters, with whom the 34-year-old continued to have some contact over the phone.

He indicated he had read a letter from Hurt, who described feeling "hopeless and useless in society" and being addicted to "sexually-related material".

"The offender presents as a sad and isolated person," the judge said.

"He appears to lack direction. He displayed a lack of motivation or capacity to pursue his rehabilitation once released, notwithstanding that he was subject to supervision."

The judge also noted it only took Hurt a few months to reoffend last time the 34-year-old was in the community.

"That earlier sentence of imprisonment was not sufficient to deter further significant offending," Justice Mossop said.

"His prospects of rehabilitation remain guarded.

"He is no longer entitled to the leniency that he was at the time of the earlier sentences."

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