Disgraced reporter Ben McCormack full of 'self-loathing' after child porn charges

Disgraced former Channel 9 reporter Ben McCormack will learn his fate in less than a fortnight, when he's sentenced on child porn offences.

On Friday his lawyer told a court McCormack was full of "self loathing", had sought professional help for his interest in young boys, and had also tried to take his own life.

Battling addiction and depraved thoughts, Ben McCormack has spent much of his life in a dark place.

On Friday the court heard how the former Channel 9 reporter unsuccessfully sought professional help to suppress his pedophilic fantasies.

McCormack was charged with child pornography offences after he was caught boasting online of being a "proud ped" and a "proud boy lover".

He pleaded guilty in September to two counts of using a carriage service to transmit, publish or promote child pornography, which included engaging in graphic online conversations.

Prosecutors want the former A Current Affair reporter locked up, but McCormack's lawyers are hoping he will avoid going to jail.

"I'm very pleased with how things went today," McCormack's lawyer Sam Macedone said outside court on Friday.

"I don't think it could have gone any better".

The sentencing judge accepting that McCormack had never acted on his urges.

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"Because he was aware of these thoughts, he would go out of his way to ensure he was not in the presence of young children," Justice Paul Conlon said.

Prosecutors countered that argument, saying Mr Cormack had practised as a volunteer life saver.

McCormack faces up to 15 years in jail, but his lawyer argued on Friday that the public humiliation he had gone through was "punishment enough".

The 43-year-old will learn his fate next month.