Michael Baker fronts Bendigo Court for child abuse material

But Charlotte was not a 14-year-old girl, but an undercover detective.

"Can't wait to see ur new hairstyle and u fully naked," he said over Facebook on September 11, 2022.

She replied, "my dinner is ready chat tmrw morning".

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A search warrant was executed the following day at 7.55am.

Michael Henry Edward Baker, 40, targeted multiple children online and has now been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing in October.

Baker, who lived in Gisborne with his father after being arrested, has pleaded guilty to 10 charges which related to possessing child abuse material and related sex crimes against child victims.

The man was supported by his father during his plea in the County Court sitting in Bendigo on September 28.

Beyond the three known child victims, Baker messaged as many as 11 other children - although police were unable to verify the identities of these young people.

In his messages pressuring children to provide sexual images of themselves, he also spoke with an American adult posing as a child living in Cambodia.

That adult reported the messages to Australian Police which sparked the investigation into his offending.

Over the course of six weeks, Baker pressured "Charlotte" to send nude images and engage in sexual activity which led to his ultimate arrest.

Baker pleaded guilty to charges of:

Baker had been told all 16 people with whom he engaged online were minors between the ages of 13 and 16.

At times he misrepresented who he was - saying he was a 16 year old boy and a bisexual 15 year old girl - at others revealing he was in his 30s.

Between March 12 and September 11, 2022, Baker used a Facebook account "Mike Baker" and a Snapchat account with the username "bigdog6155" to pressure 16 people for nude pictures.

The three known child victims included a 13-year-old girl with whom he spoke in March 2022 and a 13-year-old boy in August 2022. Both conversations occurred over Snapchat.

He also talked with a 14-year-old girl from Queensland over five weeks in a highly sexual way.

At one point, he called her his "sex slave" and changed his Facebook chat name to "Mike Baker ur daddy".

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The other people he contacted may all be real children but police have been unable to verify their identities.

They included someone who said they were a young girl living in Bendigo and a potential 14-year-old girl with whom he video-chatted. He once called that victim a "white whore".

Another potential child victim told Baker, "keep asking shit and u r getting blocked" while another told him to "go watch Pornhub".

Baker told a victim he believed to be a 15-year-old girl, "how bout we make a porno together" and "yea ill tie u up and rape u over and over again".

He threatened two people he believed to be a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl that he would publish their information on sex sites if they refused requests to send nude images.

Baker appeared in court with a shaved head wearing a short sleeve black shirt with fern detail.

The court heard after being arrested he told police he "probably did cross a line". He will be a registered sex offender for life.

Baker had no priors and the court heard he had "made no physical steps to meet up with victims", although there had been conversations about Baker's hopes a victim would come to Echuca for the school holidays.

The court heard he had been left "psychologically devastated" after the breakdown of a former relationship and had been diagnosed with a major depressive disorder.

Baker's defence team said they hoped for a short prison sentence while Prosecutor Sean Hogan said they would be keen for a longer period of time with a parole period afterwards.

Mr Hogan said he conceded there was evidence of regret and some remorse, but argued there was also minimisation of his serious offending.

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