Christos George Zachariadis, 61, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child abuse material and remained silent during his lengthy appearance in Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday, May 1.

Police said the Bodalla man downloaded files onto his work computer during his time as an office manager at Georgies Fine Jewellery in Narooma in 2015. Police identified four images as child abuse material, but Magistrate Doug Dick found only one to be “offensive”.

Police then found more than 2000 animated images depicting child exploitation in Zachariadis’ internet browsing history on his home computer in 2016.

Defence solicitor Geoff Knox said the case was “exceptional” and “unique” since the majority of the images found were illustrations.

Mr Knox said an initial curiosity in naturism led to Zachariadis’ interest in the material and that depression was a trigger in the viewing of the images.

“There is nothing in this case that indicates there is a gateway to suggest he moved on to real-life images,” Mr Knox said.

He said the objective seriousness of the images was lessened since the images did not depict real children.

Magistrate Doug Dick said the number of images and types of images were major considerations in the case.

Mr Dick said the law was designed to discourage someone from progressing from animated images to material depicting real children.

Mr Dick cited Zachariadis’ willingness to receive treatment and his low risk of reoffending before placing him on two 18-month suspended jail sentences. Zachariadis was also fined $5000.

Zachariadis will be required to undergo psychiatric treatment, mental health assessments and receive counselling and comply with community corrections supervision.