Guy Norman Hartcher, 79, was picked up by NSW Police days before Christmas 2024 after trying to procure sex from three individuals claiming to be underage online.
One of these was an undercover officer who had been messaging the ex-priest through Telegram for weeks, posing as a teen named Ben.
As the former clergyman awaits sentencing, his lawyer argued his mental functioning had been impaired because of an acquired brain injury from a car crash in April 2002.
"(That injury) has impacted on his capacity to reason in an appropriate manner," Greg Walsh told Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Friday.
"He has impaired judgement, inhibition and clearly difficulty with his thought processes."
Psychiatrist Olav Neilson testified the 79-year-old's frontal lobe, which controls personality, self-awareness and impulse control, had been damaged in the accident.
The impacts were so severe Hartcher was unable to return to his role as a priest after the crash, the court heard.
Prosecutor Edward McGinness urged Judge Phillip Mahony to find the brain injury was not a major factor in the offending and that the priest still knew what he was doing was wrong.
Hartcher pleaded guilty in March to a slew of child abuse material charges and attempting to procure children for sex.
"There is no such thing as too young," he told one user he shared child abuse material with in November 2024.
His online discussions with "Ben" involved topics such as sexual intercourse, masturbation and his sexual experience.
"This is me, baby," he said when sending his picture to undercover police.
"Way older but interested in talking sexy and being your guide to sex as much as you want."
Hartcher tried to solicit sex from two other users claiming they were teenage girls on the Zangi app, offering them Apple gift cards in exchange for images.
He told one user claiming to be 15 years old he wanted to be her "dirty daddy" and discussed meeting on Christmas Eve for sex.
He shared explicit child abuse images and videos, including AI-generated material, with six others through Telegram.
The 79-year-old arrived at court on Friday trying to shield his face using a thick legal text.
Clinical psychologist Stuart Perritt gave evidence that he had treated the 79-year-old about his sexual beliefs in himself and his relationship with adult women.
He admitted to Mr McGinness it was logical to assume the ex-priest also had a sexual interest in children, given he had pleaded guilty to eight child abuse material offences.
Mr Walsh conceded sexual gratification was a motivator for the former priest's "egregious" crimes.
But he submitted the elderly man had not reoffended since the December 2024 arrest and had instead embraced getting psychological help.
Hartcher had been ostracised over the charges - abandoned by his direct relatives and siblings - after living a lonely life for 20 years after the car accident prevented him from working as a priest, the solicitor continued.
Judge Mahony will hand down his sentence on August 21.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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