Malcolm Kenneth Wardle pleads guilty to running online price guide for child abuse photos through Snapchat app

A sexual predator has admitted offering girls as young as 12 money – starting at $10 – for perverse photos and videos sent to him via Snapchat, a court has heard.

A sexual predator ran an online price guide for illicit photo of girls as young as 12, offering them $10 and up for increasingly perverse material, a court has heard.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Malcolm Kenneth Wardle pleaded guilty to 29 child sex, child abuse and online grooming charges.

He now faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child.

Wardle also confessed to other charges including both basic and aggravated counts of procuring a child for sexual activity, and to indecent assault.

Malcolm Kenneth Wardle, left, has pleaded guilty to multiple child abuse charges. Picture: Facebook

Wardle, 22, of Morphett Vale, was originally charged with 63 abuse and exploitation offences following his arrest earlier this year.

Prosecutors alleged that, between May 2018 and September 2019, he used the Snapchat app to approach aged between 12 and 16.

They alleged Wardle kept a “price guide”, offering $10 and up for lewd and sexual photos, images and videos of the girls.

On Wednesday, counsel for Wardle provided the court with a written guilty plea to 29 of the charges, which was accepted by prosecutors.

Magistrate Simon Smart remanded Wardle in custody to face the District Court in October, when a date for sentencing submissions will be set.