The heir to a South Australian seafood company has been sentenced to four years in jail after pleading guilty to a slew of child exploitation offences.

Marcus Cappo, 20, paid seven victims — aged between 14 and 16 years old — money for explicit images and recordings before circulating some of the content with others.

He was 18 years old when the offending occurred.

The District Court heard the offending happened between 2021 and 2022 and came to light when one explicit video was circulated around one of the victims’ schools.

The court heard he paid one 16-year-old victim $450 dollars in exchange for nude photographs but threatened to expose the images when she said she wanted it to stop.

“You would not pay her if you were unhappy with what you received,” Judge Michelle Sutcliffe told Cappo.

“You believed you were engaged in a fair process of exchanging money for images.”

The court heard Cappo shared some victims’ images with other victims and asked them to replicate the explicit material.

On another occasion he offered another victim $5,000 for sex, but there was no evidence to show he followed up on that offer.

Images found on Cappo’s computer

The court heard police found 179 videos on Cappo’s phone which included 13-year-old children performing sexual acts with other children and adults.

Judge Sutcliffe told Cappo that 1,852 child exploitation images were also found on his computer depicting children under the age of 13 years.

“The material is disturbing and much if it depicted very serious sexual abuse of children,” she said.

The court heard Cappo had no prior offending and was described as a “hard working, kind man”. 

“You experienced difficulties at school, including being bullied…and left formal schooling at the beginning of year 7.”

“You have been employed full-time in your family’s business.

“You were described to have led an isolated life in your adolescent years and one in which you spent an inordinate amount of time with your computer.”

Judge Sutcliffe told Cappo his psychologist described his offending conduct as “inappropriate internet behaviours that were seeking to remedy [Cappo’s] unfilled need for emotional connection”.

Cappo was given a non-parole period of three years and two months and was taken into custody immediately after the sentence.