A father of five who sent an image of his young daughter to an online paedophile in a bid to gain his favour has been sentenced by a court.
The man, who cannot be legally identified, appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart on August 21 after having pleaded guilty to one count each of producing child exploitation material, transmitting child exploitation material and possession of child exploitation material.
The 45-year-old defendant came to the attention of the Federal Police in 2025, after his explicit text messages to a known paedophile on the mainland were discovered.
The court heard the father concocted fictional narratives about abusing his prepubescent daughter, sent a photo of her taken when she was nine, and offered to make her available if the man visited Hobart.
In her sentencing remarks on Friday, Supreme Court Justice Helen Wood said the defendant used adult chat forums for sexual gratification and sought to please the other man once he realised his pedophilic interests.
Investigators later discovered cropped family photos focusing on his other children's genital areas on his devices, along with an encrypted folder he refused to unlock.
During one of the fictional exchanges, the father claimed that he had sexually abused the girl in the past and could do so again in the future.
Justice Wood said the defendant had met the other man online.
"It is said he came to be interested sexually in [the man] and wanted to please him," she said.
"He was enjoying the attention he was getting from him, and as they talked it became clear [the other man] was interested in paedophilia content," the judge said.
The defendant was arrested on October 23, 2025.
The judge said that although the man's messages described fictional sexual scenarios, they were linked directly to a real victim.
"Through his own references to the child being his own daughter who stays with him on weekends, and also the photograph that identifies her essentially ... it could not be said that they were entirely fictitious," Justice Wood said.
She noted that the defendant had been in a relationship with his partner for 22 years, but was not living with her at the time of the offences.
While Justice Wood accepted there was no evidence he had physically abused any children or intended to do so, she emphasised that his actions betrayed his family and fuelled the demand for child abuse material.
"By engaging with someone who had revealed himself to be a paedophile as he did, he betrayed the trust of his daughter and his partner's trust," Justice Wood said.
"Conversations such as the one he had with [the other man] promote demand for child exploitation material and lead directly to the abuse of children."
Justice Wood sentenced the man to 26 months' imprisonment, backdated to July 2, 2026.
However, she suspended all but eight months of the prison term for 18 months on condition that he did not commit any further serious crimes during the suspension period.
In handing down her sentence, Justice Wood noted that the defendant had expressed deep shame about his actions, and was "racked with guilt".
She also noted that since his arrest, he attempted suicide on two occasions.
The judge also ordered that his name be entered on the Community Protection Registry for three years.
If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, please call: