James Colaiacovo, aged 36, was sentenced last week in Wagga District Court on the charges of using a carriage service to transmit indecent images and using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.

The court heard that Colaiacovo contacted a person via smartphone messaging apps whom he thought was a teenager from Melbourne but was actually an undercover police officer.

Colaiacovo sent the officer photos of his erect penis and a video of him performing a sex act before encouraging the officer, who had described themselves as underage, to send him similar material in return.

District Court Judge Gordon Lerve stated that while Colaiacovo did not engage in explicit messages with a real child it "does not make the conduct less serious; rather, it would be more serious if a real child was involved".

"There was indicated reluctance by the [undercover officer's persona] to be involved in the conduct," Judge Lerve said.

"The offender was persistent and the conversations on the social media platforms continued over a few days. The conduct was not spontaneous or opportunistic."

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The court heard that Colaiacovo used the Kik smartphone app on September 23, 2019 with the online name 'J C-cappa42' to contact an assumed online identity (AOI) that was being run by police.

"What you looking for here," Colaiacovo asked.

The AOI replied "I'm not on much friends r on it so I joined too", to which Colaiacovo replied "Well I be your friend like get to know you".

The pair continued to exchange messages and Colaiacovo sent a photograph of his pet husky dog, then a photograph of his face, and then a further photograph showing his naked torso.

Colaiacovo asked the AOI to send a photograph of herself and she asked why she should do it.

"Maybe cause your hot beautiful," Colaiacovo responded.

The AOI sent a non-explicit photograph, to which Colaiacovo responded "Wow that you like beautiful definitely hot as f---".

Colaiacovo then asked the AOI about her range of sexual experiences before sending explicit photos and a video of himself accompanied by the message "enjoy".

On subsequent days that month, Colaiacovo told the AOI he lived in Wagga and was "not really" that far from the AOI's location in Melbourne.

Colaiacovo also encouraged the AOI to perform sex acts and send him explicit photos.

The conversation moved to the WhatsApp messaging app on September 27, where Colaiacovo had signed up to the service using his mobile phone number.

On May 26 last year, police were granted a search warrant for Colaiacovo's residential address in Wagga, where they found the same husky dog and several items that were depicted in the images sent during the online conversations.

Colaiacovo's solicitor Rachel Thampapillai submitted that his offending fell "towards the lower end of the hypothetical range of objective seriousness".

During an assessment for sentencing, Colaiacovo told a corrections officer his offending "was very wrong and is disgusted in himself, advising he would be horrified if someone treated a young female member of his family in this way".

Judge Lerve sentenced Colaiacovo to a maximum term of two years and six months, factoring in a 25 per cent discount for his guilty pleas.

Upon release in September 2022, Colaiacovo will be subject to a $1000 good behaviour bond for two years.

"He is able to be employed and apparently has a good work ethic. He has a limited record. I am prepared to find on balance that the offender has good prospects of rehabilitation and that he is unlikely to reoffend," Judge Lerve stated.

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