An 80-year-old Cordeaux Heights man has faced court after being charged with 18 counts of possessing child abuse and bestiality material.
Brian Goode appeared before Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday, November 21 after being arrested the day before.
The arrest followed nearly a month of analysis of hundreds of gigabytes of photos and videos after officers searched Goode's home on Thursday, October 19.
After being granted a search warrant, officers seized 15 devices including electronic hard drives, a desktop computer and inbuilt hard-drives.
At the outset of the search, police officers asked Goode if he used a peer-to-peer file sharing program, which he allegedly said was for downloading "blue movies, pornographic movies".
Asked if he ever downloaded child abuse material, Goode allegedly said he didn't know.
"I just download everything. I don't know what's on there half the time. I just do it for something to do."
Police removed the devices from Goode's home and analysed the contents of the hard drives.
A preliminary investigation allegedly found thousands of child abuse and bestiality materials.
Police also allegedly found there were downloads ongoing when the devices were seized, and Goode's search history allegedly included using using search terms that specified child abuse material.
Officers returned on Monday, November 20 and arrested Goode and during an interview at Lake Illawarra Police Station Goode allegedly made admissions to downloading child abuse material.
Tendered court documents state that investigations were ongoing and further charges could follow.
In court, police prosecutor Sergeant Sean Thackeray said the allegations involved offending conduct that was at the "highest end of the scale".
Sergeant Thackeray opposed bail, citing the risk of Goode offending further, protection of the community and the risk of Goode failing to attend court.
Defence lawyer Sian Aldis, applying for bail on Goode's behalf, noted that Goode's age and medical conditions would make him vulnerable in custody and due to the significant nature of the offences and the ongoing investigation it was likely that it would be a long time until the matter reaches a conclusion.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming agreed, and imposed strict bail conditions, including that Goode not access the internet, forfeit his passport, report daily to Wollongong Police and not be in the company of any child.
Goode will return to court on January 17.
As Goode prepared to exit the AVL suite in the cells beneath Wollongong courthouse, Ms Fleming left him with some final words.
"Every single one of these offences involves a real child, a real victim."
