A former public servant caught with four child abuse material videos has avoided time behind bars after a top judge found his case involved "exceptional circumstances".
Ayush Bajrachrya was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday to a two-year intensive correction order after pleading guilty to charges of possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
After hearing evidence and submissions last week, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said she was "satisfied the offender should be released immediately" even though most offences of this nature involved serving time in prison.
Chief Justice McCallum said psychologists' finding that Bajrachrya "cannot accurately be described as a paedophile", given his offending was more specifically about coming to terms with his own trauma from when he was a child, went into the realm of being an exceptional circumstance.
Bajrachrya's wife wrote a character reference, informing Chief Justice McCallum she "expressed relief" when her husband was arrested because it had brought his psychological situation to light.
Chief Justice McCallum also found "stronger family bonds" had formed since Bajrachrya was charged, which was another exceptional circumstance when most other offenders found themselves isolated.
The judge considered the former Department of Defence information technology worker's offending in the low range, given he had four objectionable files on his computer when it was "not uncommon to see hundreds, if not thousands, of items" in other cases.
As part of Bajrachrya's intensive correction order, Chief Justice McCallum ordered that he undergo psychological treatment at least once per month.
Bajrachrya must also complete 50 hours of community service within six months, and will have limited access to electronic devices and the internet unless working or being supervised by someone else.
Chief Justice McCallum warned the offender any breaches of his release conditions would likely result in him being required to serve the remainder of his sentence behind bars.
She also told him he would face being dealt with under a mandatory minimum sentencing regime if he reoffended.
