A Central Victorian man has pleaded guilty to horrific child sex offences in the Bendigo County Court on Friday, July 21.
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The man who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims, pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography, four counts of producing child abuse material and two counts of sexually touching a child under the age of 16.
He was an education support officer at schools in small communities which allowed him access to his victims, among whom were his own biological children, something the court labelled a deep "breach of trust" in the community.
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Between 2018 and 2020 the man produced some 626 images and around four videos of children aged as young as six or seven.
In the court matter there were at least three known victims however it us unknown how many "unidentified children" were in the pictures found amongst the hundreds of images of abuse material.
The first victim was a child who attended the man's house as a part of a playdate with his daughter between July and September 2018.
During the playdate the girls were bathed by the man who used a "scrubby thing" to clean their bodies before using his hand to touch the friend of his daughter on the genitals.
The man told her the next day at school "make sure you don't tell anyone".
Further abuse of the child took place between March and May 2019 when about 30 photos of her were taken by the man, many "of a sexual nature" in his house including the kitchen and bathroom.
The second victim's case was that of his daughter who was seven years old at the time of the offending which included an act of sexual touching which occurring over an unknown date between July and December 2019.
The girl woke up from bed one night and went to find her parents. She found the dad who took her into the loungeroom where they laid down.
He then used his hand to rub her genitals for around two minutes before stopping, after which she went back to bed.
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The court heard the victim "froze in fear" during the ordeal.
His daughter also appears in 68 child abuse photos.
The third known victim was in 98 photos belonging to the man, with the victim being both clothed and unclothed and in a variety of sexual and non-sexual poses.
Further unknown children had photos taken of them at various locations including in the man's back garden, kitchen and bathtub with the offending taking place between December 2018 and April 2020.
In December 2021 a search warrant was executed on his property where two hard drives and a laptop were found containing the child abuse material.
A second search of a storage facility belonging to the man in May 2022 found further material and ammo for multiple weapons the man did not have a licence for.
Judge Geoffrey Chettle was visibly upset during the reading of the crimes committed by the man and brushed away arguments that said the man was experiencing anxiety and depression while in custody.
The court heard the man was "self-diagnosed" with Asperger's Syndrome and felt did not have a sexual interest in children.
Judge Chettle disagreed with both statements.
The judge said he wanted to try and determine how many possible victims were involved before handing the man a prison term.
The man has been remanded until July 28 for further pleas and sentencing.
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