A judge has described a Mackay man who has been jailed for the "depraved" sexual abuse of young girls as a "danger to the community".
Warning: This story contains details of child sexual abuse.
The 23-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in the District Court in Mackay on Wednesday to 14 charges, including child grooming, possessing and producing child exploitation material and maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.
The former offences were committed between 2019 and 2021.
The sexual relationship with the child occurred between 2019 and 2022.
The court heard at least eight victims were identified.
One was a 12-year-old girl who was threatened with rape if she did not send explicit photos of herself to the man.
Judge Vicki Loury labelled the man's offending "utterly disgusting".
"You have a concerning sexual interest in children and you engage in depraved conduct," Judge Loury said.
"You are a danger to the community, particularly young girls."
Crown prosecutor Katrina Overell told the court the offender had engaged in explicit image sharing conversations with girls as young as 12.
The court also heard 125 explicit images were found on his media devices, which he told police were for his personal sexual gratification.
'Hard time' in custody
Ms Overell told the court that the man told police during an interview that he was not "attracted to girls under 16".
She told the court the man was 20 when he began a "relationship" with a 13-year-old, which lasted for two years.
But during the police interview, Ms Overel said, the man "blamed her for making the relationship sexual".
Judge Loury called the circumstances and the man's offences "unusual" and acknowledged his early plea of guilty and young age.
She addressed the long-lasting effect child sexual abuse had on victims before sentencing him to six years' jail.
The man will be eligible for parole in March 2024 after serving two years.
During sentencing submissions, defence barrister Paul Rutledge informed the court his client had been targeted by other inmates during his "hard time" in custody.
"He's a rock spider as far as they're concerned, and they're going to get him" Mr Rutledge said.
Mr Rutledge said his client had turned to religion while in jail and the chaplain regularly visited him.
