An elderly man has been caught with videos showing child exploitation. (File photo)

A computer repair customer caught with videos of child exploitation on his laptop was indulging a "passing interest" rather than feeding a habit, his lawyer says.

The 77-year-old, who has interim name suppression, had taken his laptop and external hard drive to a Blenheim computer repair shop to be fixed when staff found four videos in July last year.

The videos were from a notorious child abuse series involving an infant, "one of the worst" circulating on the internet and "highly sought after by child offenders internationally", a police summary said.

Police also found more than 100 videos and photographs of "dehumanising" sexual content, and photographs of pre-teen girls.

READ MORE: Repair shop finds child exploitation images on elderly man's laptop

The man was supposed to be sentenced for three charges of possessing objectionable publications at the Blenheim District Court on Tuesday.

But his lawyer Rob Harrison was still looking for a place where his client could serve an electronically-monitored sentence such as home detention, and asked for the sentencing to be adjourned.

"He's having great difficulty finding another address that he can rent."

However, probation had recommended a sentence of supervision as having a more rehabilitative effect, which would not require the man to be electronically monitored.

Perhaps the court would consider supervision instead, Harrison said.

Judge Bill Hastings said the video series was "possibly among the most serious publications in the industry".

He had not watched them but had come across similar material during his time as chief censor, he said.

"Every time it's downloaded it's increasing the demand which increases the supply. These are far from victimless crimes. Supervision, to my mind, doesn't sufficiently denounce or deter."

Harrison told the judge while he had not watched the videos, he had watched a documentary about the man who created the videos, who had since been caught and the infant victim in the videos had been rescued.

"In many other cases, especially in this industry, their libraries become huge.

"But here, he's just looking at two or three charges which suggests to me ... a passing interest, not the habitual viewing and drowning yourself in this sort of behaviour. That, I think, sets him apart from most of the other offenders I've seen."

Harrison said he once defended a teenage "web master" who encouraged parents to create videos he could circulate.

"That's one extreme. The four videos are horrendous, I don't have to see them to know how bad they are ... But when you look at [the defendant] in that respect, my submission is intensive supervision, given his age and medical condition. The need to denounce and deter is not as great."

Judge Hastings said he and Harrison were "approaching the same page here, though from opposite directions".

But prison would still be the start point for sentencing purposes, Judge Hastings said.

He remanded the man on bail to October 2 for sentencing.

He also continued the man's interim name suppression, though that would be debated at sentencing, as well as whether the man should go on the sex offender register.