The man at the centre of a North Queensland amber alert involving four children has been targeted in jail, a court has heard.
Police issued the alert involving Joshua Carter on August 11 after four children were taken from their home north of Mackay.
A court heard Carter had taken the children in his car and returned them unharmed nearly 24 hours later.
Carter appeared via videolink in Mackay Magistrates Court from Capricornia Correctional Facility today, where he pleaded guilty to possession of drugs and drug utensils and other charges.
The court heard Carter had been on a return-to-prison warrant when he was taken into custody on August 16 and had since served a month behind bars.
Carter's lawyer, Geoff Govey, told the court his client was facing additional challenges while in custody.
Mr Govey said other inmates had misconstrued Carter's charges and believed he had abused the children.
"The knock-on effect now is that he's been assaulted constantly while in custody, because everyone thinks that he has been charged with indecent treatment," Mr Govey said.
As Mr Govey spoke, Carter lifted his shirt up his left arm to reveal a large discolouration above his elbow and dark bruises to his chest.
The court heard Carter had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from a workplace incident.
Mr Govey said Carter had been working as a operator when he rounded a corner in a vehicle and hit two people who were not supposed to be there.
Mr Govey said one of the people had died.
"It was very messy, there was things everywhere," Mr Govey said.
The court heard Carter had had stopped taking his medication for PTSD prior to allegedly taking the children.
Prosecutor Michelle Bray said Carter had shown disregard for the law and had a history of breaching orders.
Magistrate Damien Dwyer took this into consideration and said he wanted to confirm Carter would be able to attend a rehabilitation facility after his expected parole release on December 22.
Mr Dwyer adjourned Carter's sentencing until October 12.
