Steven Campbell Duff in court for possessing child exploitation material

A police raid uncovered horrifying videos of sadistic sexual abuse on a man’s devices involving children as young as toddlers.

Steven Campbell Duff, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child exploitation material when he faced the court on Tuesday.

A man who watched sadistic videos of toddlers being sexually abused has been sentenced in Maryborough District Court.

Steven Campbell Duff, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child exploitation material when he faced the court on Tuesday.

The court heard police had executed a search warrant on February 24, at the home where Duff was living.

Crown prosecutor Farook Anoozer said Duff had told police there would be child abuse material on the devices in his possession.

Some of the videos showed toddlers being sexually abused, Mr Anoozer said, adding that some of them “depict the most vile examples of child exploitation material”.

The court heard the offence was committed while Duff, who appeared in court via video link, was on probation for similar offending.

In March 2022, the Gympie man was caught in possession of about 3000 child exploitation pictures, some “graphic” in nature.

At the time, Gympie District Court heard the images were stored across seven devices, including tablets and mobile phones.

They had been accessed online through Dropbox and Google accounts, as well as shared with other users on a social media chat.

On that occasion, images included prepubescent children, some of which depicted graphic acts, including rape.

The court heard Duff had signs of a pedophilic, paraphiliac disorder as well as cognitive impairments and a substance abuse disorder.

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Duff told the court he was looking to connect with Bridges in order to address his drug use upon his release.

“I don’t want to be in the situation I’m in now,” he said.

The court heard Duff had previously worked as a kitchen hand and at a supermarket packing shelves.

Judge David Kent said there had been 21 videos in the most serious category of child abuse material and 11 in category two.

“The material was serious. The children were as young as toddlers and sadism was involved,” he said.

“Although the numbers of different items possessed was not large, the material was serious.”

Duff had been in custody for 157 days since the material was discovered on his devices, Mr Kent said.

He said Duff had suffered some injuries early in his life from chroming, or inhaling paint fumes.

Duff had been on a disability support pension for a period of time, Mr Kent said.

For the possession of child exploitation material, Duff was sentenced to the 157 days he had already served and placed on probation for two years.