This month, Raumati Hanning, 24, made his second appearance before the Parole Board.
He asked to be released to complete a sex offender treatment programme and be with support people, but the board said he remained an undue risk to the community.
In February last year, Hanning was jailed for three years on four charges of making or copying child sexual exploitation material and accessing a computer for dishonest purposes.
He created fake accounts on social media, posing as a 12-year-old under the names "Lilly", "Lucy", "Chris", "Indiana" or "Indywindywooooo".
The defendant encouraged children between 7 and 16 to send videos of their feet, claiming they were required for ballet, gymnastics and school assignments.
Hanning would direct the victims to perform acts on cylindrical objects with their feet, ensuring their camera was pointed directly at their crotch, and he traded the images for other explicit material involving children.
Police found 46,818 images and 1610 videos on Hanning’s phone — many were indecent and some were classified as objectionable.
This month’s parole decision said Hanning was respectful and polite while in prison.
A psychological report said he posed a moderate risk of sexual re-offending, likely to be in the form of accessing and creating, storing and distributing objectionable material.
He had been been put on the waiting list for the Medium Intensity Psychological Programme for Child Sex Offenders, but argued he could be released to do community-based rehabilitation instead.
Hanning initially said if he was not released to do the community-based rehabilitation, he would not undertake the programme behind bars.
He needed to be with his support people, he said.
But once he understood those were the only options the board was considering, he said he would do the treatment in custody if he was not released.
He had prepared a safety plan which showed he had an understanding of his high-risk situations and strategies, the board said.
The board decided Hanning should remain behind bars to complete the more substantial programme.
"Given Mr Hanning’s problematic background, that he is a moderate risk of re-offending ... the board’s preference is that Mr Hanning should undertake the more substantial programme," the decision said.
He would appear again in March next year, unless he completed the programme earlier.
He has one year and seven months’ of his sentence remaining.
