An Adelaide paedophile who posted images online "boasting" about his crimes has been sentenced to at least 14 years in prison.
WARNING: This story contains details of sexual abuse that readers may find distressing.
Judge Anthony Allen warned the court the details of the offending were "explicit and deeply confronting" before beginning his sentencing.
The District Court heard Samuel Joe Frost, 49, persistently sexually abused a child from 2014 to 2015 — beginning when the child was just eight years old.
Frost was arrested in March 2023 after a five-year manhunt by the Australian Federal Police and the International Criminal Police Organisation.
Frost was also found to be in possession of more than 37,000 images and 1,800 videos of "extreme" child exploitation and had created a "permanent record" of his own offending by taking hundreds of photographs and disseminating the images online.
Judge Allen said much of the material in his possession involved violent and horrific abuse of children under the age of 10.
"That adults could treat defenceless children in such a way beggars belief. It is demonstrative of the worst in humanity," Judge Allen said.
"You have contributed to the production and proliferation of this material by creating an audience for it. You have also perpetuated such depraved content."
Judge Allen said he had received victim impact statements from the child and the child's mother, saying the victim wasn't able to "trust people", and their "mental health has seriously declined".
"[The victim] states that you have blackened part of [their] soul."
Judge Allen said images showed the child victim remained motionless during some of the offending providing "a very sound basis for the conclusion to be drawn that on occasion you had drugged your victim beforehand".
Judge Allen also noted Frost's "breathtaking boastfulness" about his offending online, with the court hearing Frost had said in child abuse forums he was "so lucky" and hoped his posts would "inspire" others to create similar material.
"This is extremely serious offending," Judge Allen said.
"The content of the material is disgraceful and abusive in the extreme.
"On an assessment of all the material before me any remorse must be considered to be minimal."
The court heard Frost had an "unremarkable upbringing" and no relevant prior offending.
Frost, who appeared in court via video link, remained emotionless, resting his chin in his hand and looking downwards for the entirety of the proceedings.
Judge Allen fixed a non-parole period of 14 years and nine months — backdated to Frost's arrest in March 2023.
