A BENDIGO man has pleaded guilty to filming and photographing sexual acts with a young boy while coercing him with gifts during a four-year period.
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Anson Daniel Manning, 27, is charged with persistent sexual abuse of the boy between 2007 and 2012, starting when the child was just nine years old.
Federal police found 412 sexually explicit photos and 31 pornographic videos of the boy when they raided Manning’s Bendigo home in January this year.
They also uncovered 466 other videos and 10,126 other images of child pornography.
Manning faced the Victorian County Court in Bendigo yesterday to enter pleas of guilty to counts of persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16, producing child pornography and possessing child pornography.
Prosecutor Peter Jones said the boy had been in Manning’s care when the offending took place. He read to the court a long list of the sexual abuse the young child suffered at the hands of Manning including numerous incidents of sexual penetration.
The court heard Manning had offered the boy gifts including an iPod and a scooter in exchange for the sexual acts.
Mr Jones said the boy became depressed and angry but was too scared to tell anyone about the abuse. He said the offending was only discovered by the federal police late last year, as part of a wider child pornography operation.
He said police found Manning was uploading child pornography on peer to peer file sharing service GigaTribe.
Members of the gallery became very emotional throughout the hour-long prosecution summary. At one point the child’s mother ran from the court sobbing, briefly turning to Manning to call him a “sick f---”.
Manning, an overweight man with long greasy hair, stayed hunched over in the dock. He covered his face with his hands for most of the proceedings.
Mr Jones told Judge Lance Pilgrim the court was seeking a 10 to 12-year head sentence with a non-parole period on seven to nine years.
A conviction will mean Manning is categorised as a “serious sexual offender” and will be placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Manning’s defence counsel Stephen Payne said his client was remorseful and ashamed of his actions. The plea will resume in the same court this morning.