Matthew Benjamin Bennett, 26, faces Brisbane court charged with accessing, soliciting and transmitting child pornography about real children

A loner who lived with his mother, had no friends or sex life and was afraid to leave the house has been faced a Brisbane court on shocking child pornography charges, with a judge slamming his defence attempt as “simply too far fetched”.

A loner who lived with his mother, had no friends or sex life and was afraid to leave the house turned to accessing child pornography on the internet.

Matthew Benjamin Bennett, 26, accessed, solicited and transmitted child pornography about real children, Brisbane District Court Judge Leanne Clare said.

Judge Clare said some of the material included images of pre-pubescent children engaged in sexual acts with adults and some involved bondage and bestiality.

She said after Federal police raided Bennett’s Caboolture home in late 2020 they found 37 files of child abuse material, including videos, saved on four devices over 14 months.

Some images showed children aged four to 16 in naked or sexual poses or solo sexual acts, penetrative sex acts involving adults and children and the use of sex toys, the court heard.

Bennett pleaded guilty to eight charges, including using a carriage service to access, transmit and solicit child abuse material and possessing or controlling child abuse material.

Commonwealth prosecutor Holly Wiffen said Bennett used Kik Messenger app to chat with others and trade child pornography.

Bennett told police he had been searching for adult pornography and had come across child pornography by mistake, the court heard.

He claimed he told people with whom he traded that he was only interested in images of people over 18, but some people sent him child abuse material, which he did not look at.

“Your account is simply too far fetched,” Judge Clare said.

She said in October, 2020, Bennett had a conversation in which he rated the penis of a male who said he was 16 and then solicited six images from him.

Defence counsel Jason Todman said Bennett, who was bullied as a 16-year-old in high school, dropped out, developed depression and anxiety and feared leaving the house.

Mr Todman said Bennett lived with his mother and had no friends or social network, apart from his mother and sister, he had no sexual relationships, no driver’s licence and was unemployed and housebound for years.

Mr Todman said Bennett could not explain why he got involved in the offending, other than his need to communicate with someone else.

Commenting on a psychological report which she said only recorded what Bennett had said, Judge Clare said: “He’s living a solitary life and looking for hobbies and this is what he took up?”

She told Bennett he needed to be honest with himself about what he had been doing in order to get the help he needed.

She said the children on the material he kept were real children and it was not a victimless crime as distribution of such images only encouraged similar child abuse.

Judge Clare sentenced Bennett to two years’ jail, with release after five months, on a $1000 three-year good behaviour bond and 24 months’ probation.

She ordered that a probation officer direct him to undertake psychiatric or psychological treatment.