A gavel is seen in a hearing room in Panama City April 7, 2016. court judge hammer
A gavel is seen in a hearing room in Panama City April 7, 2016. Reuters/Carlos Jasso

A man in Brisbane has pleaded guilty to Photoshopping his stepdaughter’s face into pornographic photos involving himself. He started manipulating the photos just months after receiving a suspended sentence for touching the girl’s genitals while she slept.

The court heard that the man was arrested in September 2015 after he was caught with about 100 images on hard drives in his luggage. He was returning to Brisbane from a trip to South Africa. He used the Photoshop app to digitally add the girl’s images, which were taken when she was just about 13, onto the bodies of adult women engaged in sexual acts with him. He also digitally manipulated her image to look like she was engaged in bestiality with a dog. The girl was just 16 years old then.

Just months before he Photoshopped the images, the man, who is now 51 years old, was given a suspended sentence for touching his stepdaughter’s genitals while she slept. He claimed he created the images because he was “morally outraged” about the girl’s blossoming sexuality. He also described the photos as “artworks,” denying that there was sexual motivation behind the act.

He had raised her since she was two years old. He said he was outraged when she told him she was becoming sexually active with her boyfriend. Nevertheless, he pleaded guilty to four charges, including possessing or producing child pornography outside Australia, and importing and exporting objectionable goods without approval.

Brisbane District Court Judge Leanne Clare did not believe his claim on Monday. She said he was sexually obsessed with the stepdaughter and that his obsession warranted 12 months in jail.

“On material that I currently have before me, I find your client’s explanation not credible,” she was quoted by the AAP as saying. “Perhaps you were jealous of her interest in other people, but what you did was hardly an act of parental concern.”

The man was sentenced to two years of jail time. However, he can be released after 12 months on good behaviour bond.