Benjamin Smorti jailed for possessing ‘abhorrent’ child exploitation material

A former neo-Nazi caught with sickening child abuse material in the most serious of categories said his meth high increased while watching it.

A father who said he deserves to go to jail for his vile actions says he turned to viewing child exploitation material after seeing advertisement pop-ups.

Benjamin Luke Smorti, 40, will serve only two months of his sentence in jail after bookmarking the abhorrent material for quick access.

The Adelaide District Court on Tuesday heard police seized Smorti’s phone on April 29, 2020 and found 1558 child exploitation files.

Around 400 of the files were classified as category four and 70 files were category five.

Category five on the Oliver scale – which forms the basis on which child exploitation images and videos are graded – is where a child is subjected to sadism, torture, bestiality or humiliation.

“The files primarily depicted female children aged between three and 10,” Judge Liesl Kudelka said during sentencing.

“The description of the material is testament to the perverse and depraved nature of it.”

The court heard 735 bookmarked child abuse material web pages were saved to Smorti’s browser.

The Clare father-of-two pleaded guilty to accessing and possessing child abuse material using a carriage service.

Benjamin Smorti was jailed for possessing child exploitation material. Photo: Facebook

The court heard Smorti turned from watching normal pornography to child abuse material after clicking on pop-ups.

“You said that you downloaded and looked at the child abuse material when you were under the influence of methamphetamine,” Judge Kudelka said.

“As you viewed more of the child abuse material you realised it increased your methamphetamine high.

“You say that it became a way to step away from everything for a while.”

The court heard Smorti had a troubled upbringing and became involved in a neo-Nazi gang where drugs and violence were a “significant feature”.

“You managed to extradite yourself from that brotherhood … eventually your life stabilised,” Judge Kudelka said.

The court heard Smorti told a psychologist he deserves to go to jail for what he did as nothing else would be an adequate punishment.

The court heard Smorti was remorseful for his actions and was rehabilitating from his methamphetamine addiction.

Judge Kudelka sentenced Smorti to one year and six months.

“There is no doubt the material was depraved and abhorrent,” she said.

“Your accessing and possession fuels the markets for the continued exploitation of children in this way.”

The sentence was suspended on a $500, two-year good behaviour bond, with supervision for 18 months after Smorti had served two months.