A man in his early 20s has admitted to having child abuse material on his digital devices that a prosecutor previously described as showing "clear material, clear discussion of planning attacks" on children.
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Christopher Alex Middleton appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday when he pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to transmit such material.
The offences occurred on November 14 and 17 in 2021.
He said "guilty, your honour" to both charges when asked by magistrate Margaret Hunter for his pleas.
In a statement late last year, ACT Policing said charges were laid after a search warrant at a Harrison residence was executed by policing teams, including the ACT Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET), the AFP Victim Identification Team and a specialist canine technology detection dog.
"Two laptop computers and two mobile phones that contained child abuse material were seized during the warrant," the police statement said.
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One count of failing to comply with a magistrate's order will travel with the charges above to the Supreme Court for sentencing.
The prosecution withdrew another count of child abuse material possession.
Middleton's bail was also varied to include notifying authorities should he change his address.
During a hearing in February, Commonwealth prosecutor Natasha Purvis said a statement of police allegations "does show that when police accessed the devices at the house, there was clear material, clear discussion of planning attacks [on children]".
Ms Purvis said that, under new Commonwealth sentencing regime of such offences, there was "now actual presumption of imprisonment [for child abuse material charges]" if a defendant pleaded guilty or was found guilty.
The case will come before the higher court on June 16 for a directions hearing.
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