Lawyers for a Warilla man who videoed himself having sex with a doll made to look like a young school girl have asked a court to spare their client a jail sentence in a legal case set to become the first of its kind in Australia.
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Robert Garcia was the first person nationwide to be charged with possessing a child-like sex doll in November 2019 under new federal legislation introduced by parliament less than two months earlier.
Documents tendered to Wollongong District Court at Garcia's sentencing hearing on Friday revealed police discovered the doll - and the horrific footage - inside Garcia's home while carrying out a welfare check.
Police said the doll, which stood about 80cm tall, was found in Garcia's bedroom wearing a pink top, no underwear and its blonde hair had been styled into pigtails.
They said a hole had been cut out in the doll's crotch area and a crude synthetic tube had been inserted into the hole to allow for penetration.
Police also discovered a cache of child pornography on three phones inside the house, as well as two videos of Garcia had short of himself having sex with the doll.
In court on Friday, a tearful Garcia took the stand to explain his actions, claiming he'd purchased the doll from Kmart a few years ago for his grandchildren to play with but had since converted it for his own sexual pleasure.
He told the court he'd been "lonely" and "not thinking right" at the time due to a crippling alcohol addiction but denied he had any paedophilic interest in children.
"I've never felt that way, I've never felt inclined to do anything towards children" he said.
"I raised two step-daughters."
However, Garcia did admit being "disgusted" with himself and feeling "perverted".
"I'm very remorseful, guilty and ashamed of myself," he said.
The court heard Garcia had kicked his alcohol habit and managed to turn his life around since his arrest.
His barrister, Ben Hart, urged the court to spare his client a full-time jail sentence, suggesting the offence would sit at the lower end of the scale of objective severity.
"It wasn't a doll purchased from overseas, it didn't have interchangeable parts and wasn't originally purchased with the intent to be used as a child-like sex doll," he said.
"[His crime] doesn't have that commercial flavour which, in my submission, was the purpose for bringing that legislation in."
However, Judge Andrew Haesler all but dashed Garcia's hopes of being able to remain in the community when he is sentenced on Monday.
"It's almost inevitable you will receive a jail sentence - you need to prepare for that eventuality," he said.