An X-ray technician allegedly told police he felt disgusted when he was arrested and accused of regularly paying women in the Philippines to live stream child abuse.
Gowrie man Ernest James Maclay, 73, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday to apply for a bail variation.
He is yet to enter pleas to five charges of possessing child abuse material and one count of encouraging child sexual activity outside Australia.
Maclay has been before the court since September, when police searched his home and found five electronic devices or accounts that allegedly contained child abuse material.
Court documents allege one device held a video recording of child abuse that had been live-streamed.
On Maclay's phone, police claim to have found a WhatsApp conversation between the defendant and a "facilitator" - a person organising and enabling the streaming of child exploitation material over the internet - from the Philippines.
During a recorded police interview, Maclay allegedly said he communicated on Skype with at least four different women from the Philippines and regularly "sponsors" them by sending money for their living expenses.
He allegedly said he recalled seeing child abuse material, but only back in the 1970s or 1980s.
Police then informed Maclay child abuse material had been located across several of his devices and account-based data.
He allegedly replied by saying "I can't remember it", "I've never distributed any of this", and "it should never have happened".
Maclay also allegedly told police he felt disgusted and started viewing child abuse material in 2015 or 2016, with the habit developing from adult women in the Philippines "wanting to do shows with children for him".
The women would allegedly send Maclay direct messages offering "private shows".
He allegedly recalled one video which depicted an adult woman performing a sexual act on a male toddler, for which he paid the equivalent of $13 to $26.
That night, Maclay was arrested and taken to the ACT regional watch house.
The next day, on September 9, Maclay was granted bail with conditions that included a ban on accessing the internet.
Maclay's lawyer applied on Monday for him to have access to the internet during his work as an X-ray technician, which was agreed by prosecutor David Bloomfield.
The lawyer applied to remove Maclay's requirement to report regularly to police, but magistrate Robert Cook said he was "not comfortable" completely removing this condition.
The case is due back in court on December 15.
