A staff member at a Tasmanian Catholic school accused of sexually exploiting multiple students and young girls has pleaded guilty to a string of offences.
Somerset man Adam Michael Hones, 32, worked as an information technology (IT) technician at Burnie's Marist Regional College for almost a decade before being stood down following a police investigation in 2021.
In the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Friday, he pleaded guilty to 19 charges involving 17 different young girls, 11 of which were students at Marist.
Crown prosecutor Claire Flockhart said Hones created multiple social media and email accounts with fake names to communicate with the girls.
She said he would request naked photos and videos from them in exchange for money, in offending that occurred in 2020 and 2021.
"It was predatory as opposed to opportunistic," she said.
"He placed himself in a position to offend. They were vulnerable."
While many declined, multiple girls sent him explicit photos of themselves, and Hones used a device to record and save some conversations without the complainant knowing.
Ms Flockhart argued he choose to reach out to students he knew through his employment at the school, noting evidence that he had sent some of them correspondence to their school email addresses.
"For a lot of the Marist students, the state would assert he knew who they were," she said.
Defence lawyer Stephen Wright did not agree, telling the court the offending had no correlation to his employment.
"He is not a teacher. His occupation at the school does not bring him in daily contact with students," he said.
Ms Flockhart disputed that, telling the court Hones "had dealings with students on a daily basis".
Seeking 'to fill a void in his life'
Justice Tamara Jago asked Mr Wright whether Hones had intentionally contacted girls who were under the age of 18.
After a break to seek instruction from his client, Mr Wright said it was not Mr Hones's intention to "seek out young girls" but rather "to fill a void in his life".
"You can do that by having a conversation that doesn't involve sending nude photographs," Justice Jago replied.
Mr Wright said Hones lacked self-confidence and suffered from being bullied during schooling.
"There is no suggestion that he wanted to make any personal connection … he didn't seek to meet up with them," Mr Wright said.
"He was hiding behind that keyboard."
He said Hones had expressed his regret and remorse for his actions.
None of the complainants wanted to provide a victim impact statement, but Ms Flockhart said the offending had the "enormous potential" to cause harm.
"Otherwise, good character and lack of prior convictions is of little or no weight," she said.
Justice Jago adjourned sentencing until November 23.
