A Canberra man who filmed himself sexually abusing his friend as she slept has been jailed by the ACT Supreme Court.
Angus Gottaas-Hughes, 23, was arrested after an overseas agency told Australian authorities he had received child-abuse material.
Police raided his home and seized three laptops and a phone. They contained more than 1,000 images and videos of adults abusing children, from the ages of eight months to 14 years.
Police also found videos of him sexually assaulting a sleeping teenage girl.
Gottaas-Hughes pleaded guilty to rape and using a child to produce child-sex-abuse material, as well as using a carriage service to access and possess child-abuse material.
Today, Justice Belinda Baker told the court that some of the videos were computer-generated cartoons.
"It's estimated there were no less than 200 victims depicted in the images," she said.
The court heard Gottaas-Hughes told police he had paid 20 euros to download child-abuse material during the COVID-19 lockdown.
When asked about the videos of him sexually assaulting the teenage girl, he said it was a "friends-with-benefits" arrangement.
"He said that she had a kink for being touched when she was asleep," Justice Baker said.
The court heard he also told police she was not actually asleep.
Gottaas-Hughes later admitted that none of that was true, saying he had panicked and "said some bullshit".
Offence a 'gross breach of trust'
When the girl spoke to police, she said the pair had never had sex.
In a victim impact statement to the court, she said she had been devastated to learn what happened.
"[She said she had suffered] ongoing pain not only from the trauma but also from the betrayal of trust," Justice Baker said.
"She said she was truly broken … and surviving on autopilot."
A doctor who gave evidence in the case diagnosed Gottaas-Hughes with paraphilia and paedophilia.
His parents told the court he had been a kind, gentle and quiet boy, who was bullied at school.
The court heard he had begun treatment since the offences, but the treatment would not be available in jail.
However, Justice Baker said the offences were too serious not to warrant time behind bars.
"The offending involved a gross breach of trust," she said.
She noted he had kept the images of the girl on his phone for two years before they were discovered.
But the judge did accept that he had expressed remorse.
Gottaas-Hughes was sentenced for two years and nine months, but will be released from jail after 10 months to serve the rest of his sentence on a good-behaviour order.
Justice Baker addressed him directly, saying: "I have imposed a lengthy term of prison on you to recognise the harm to the victim."
She said if he ever committed similar offences, he could expect to spend much more time in jail.
