Adelaide man who sexually abused 18-month-old son blames the internet.

By ABC court reporter Candice Prosser.

An Adelaide father who sexually abused his 18-month-old son and shared child pornography was “corrupted” by the internet, a court has heard.

The man in his late 30s, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including indecent assault, and producing and disseminating child exploitation material.

He has been in custody since his arrest in March 2015.

During sentencing submissions in the District Court his lawyer, George Katsaras, told the judge his client had lead a normal, law-abiding life until this offending.

“Unfortunately, Your Honour, through the internet he has become exposed to deviant sexual themes and has been corrupted by this exposure and has developed paraphernalia,” Mr Katsaras said.

“He does understand the serious nature of his offending and he is truly remorseful for his behaviour.”

Mr Katsaras said his client had developed depression while in prison and wanted to rehabilitate himself.

“He has lost everything, he has lost his liberty, his job, his relationship with his partner and his relationship with his son.

“He can’t take back what he did, he can only seek to correct himself. He is desperate to do that.”

Father searched for child porn for years: Prosecution

Prosecutor Amy Fisher told the court the offending was “incredibly serious” and the man had not been forthcoming to authorities about his crimes.

“There has been either ignorance on [the man’s] part or a deliberate attempt to minimise the extent and effect of his offending,” Ms Fisher said.

She said despite telling a psychologist he had no sexual interest in children, there was evidence the man had been searching for illicit material on children on the internet for several years.

The court heard the man had disseminated 388 child exploitation images over 20 days before his arrest in March 2015.

A further three charges related to child exploitation material were laid against him during the sentencing hearing and he pleaded guilty to all charges.

The man will be sentenced next month.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.

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