Paul McKenzie George Ferguson, 65, was sentenced in Wollongong District Court on Thursday, March 28, for failing to reply with his obligations under the child protection register and for using a carriage service to access child abuse material.

Ferguson, who is wheelchair bound and requires the assistance of two carers to perform basic tasks such as washing himself and eating, was first charged in March 2019 after a JB Hi Fi store employee discovered child abuse material on a phone Ferguson was exchanging.

Ferguson appealed his sentence in the lower court for this matter, but was sentenced later that year to 12 months in prison and placed on the child protection register.

Before serving his full sentence, Ferguson was released on what is known as a recognisance release order, a type of suspended sentence.

In September 2021, police arrived at Ferguson's room at a motel where he was staying to check he was complying with the conditions of the child protection register, and found Ferguson holding a black mobile phone.

Police inspected the phone and found what they suspected to be child abuse material on the device. Ferguson told police he had no memory of what was on the phone, however police seized the phone for further investigations.

After a file extraction, the phone was found to contain more than 100 files containing child abuse material and police returned to arrest Ferguson.

After his arrest, Ferguson admitted to police that his phone contained what he referred to as "child porn" and said he had been looking at the files since he obtained the phone earlier that year.

Ferguson said he did not get any gratification from the images, but had "urges" that would lead him to view the material.

While Ferguson entered early guilty pleas, his sentence was delayed due to a protracted stay in hospital between February 2022 and March 2023 and questions over his mental and physical fitness to be sentenced.

However, Judge William Fitzsimmons found that Ferguson should serve a prison sentence, given his disregard for the orders of the court after his initial release and the seriousness of the offences.

"Such conduct demonstrates flagrant disregard of the court's order to be of good behaviour on his release," Judge Fitzsimmons said.

"Accessing child abuse material actively encourages the market for such images, perpetuating ongoing abuse.

"These offences must be denounced by the court in the strongest terms."

Judge Fitzsimmons ordered that Ferguson serve the balance of his original sentence behind bars, as well as an additional 12 months for the additional offences, part of which will be served at the same time.

Ferguson will be eligible for release from 25 December 2026.