The crimes were committed at his home in September 2009 and involved a 12-year-old girl prostituted by her mother and pimp Gary John Devine - both of whom have been jailed for their crimes. Justice Porter said Martin had developed an obsession with sex by the end of 2006 and began looking at internet pornography, something he had not done before he was prescribed a dopamine agonist drug. Justice Porter said Martin started to engage the services of sex workers in January 2007 and that over two years had seen 162 different sex workers on 506 occasions. Martin also engaged a male sex worker, despite having no interest in men before he was prescribed the drug. Justice Porter said a neurologist's report and a psychologist's report confirmed the link between Martin's dopamine agonist use - which has since been stopped - and hypersexuality.

"What Mr Martin suffered was really an illness and I am in no doubt that this illness must be treated as a mitigating factor," he said. "The distress and confusion caused to Mr Martin is clearly evident from his police interview." Martin first had sex with the girl on September 11, 2009, after he responded to a newspaper advertisement for "new in town, Angela, 18 years old". Martin also engaged a male sex worker, despite having no interest in men before he was prescribed the drug. He saw the girl at Devine's dimly-lit Glenorchy unit and left after becoming disconcerted by a male voice he heard outside the bedroom.

Two days later he arranged for the girl to come to his Claremont home and it was during this visit the crimes were committed. "When she arrived he paid the $500," Justice Porter said. "He noticed the camera which was attached to a charger and asked her about posing for photographs." Martin paid an extra $100 to take photographs of the girl engaged in sexual acts and posing sexually. During the trial, the court heard it was usual for Martin to take photographs of women he had sex with.

Justice Porter said it was not the Crown case that Martin had set out to engage an under-age prostitute and that he had believed she was 18. He said that by the time the crimes were committed, the basis of that belief had subsided but noted that Martin's sexual inhibitions were reduced as a result of the drug. Martin was one of more than 100 men who had sex with the girl while she was being prostituted. Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis has said that there was admissable evidence from seven other men but that their cases were different from Martin's and that there was little chance of them being convicted. Justice Porter said Martin was not to be sentenced on the basis that he was a representative - appointed by the media - of the men who had sex with the girl.

Justice Porter also said if Martin had not co-operated with police, prosecution would have been difficult. He said he was satisfied Martin would not reoffend. Justice Porter said Martin, a former Glenorchy mayor and Elwick MLC, had led an extremely industrious life and that his list of civic and community activities from 1983 to 2009 was lengthy. Martin made no comment as he left the court. He was heckled by supporters of the girl. He will face a related charge in the Supreme Court in Hobart on January 30 and is on bail on that charge.