Australian man Robert Ellis said he was acting under "God's law not man's" when he lured at least 11 girls into his rented home in Bali, molested them and gave them money and gifts.
Now the 70-year-old could end up spending the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday.
In a case that highlights the scourge of child sex tourism in Southeast Asian countries, Ellis came to Bali in 2013 on a single entry visa for retired people or senior citizens.
"In Australia the defendant lived in a remote area so he loved staying in Bali ... using his money from his pension," Chief Judge Wayan Sukanila told Denpasar District Court.
Between 2014 and 2015 Ellis abused at least 11 girls, aged nine to 15 at his rented room in Tabanan, near Kuta.
He would bathe them in exchange for gifts and money, sometimes paying for a motorbike for a girl's family or for dental braces.
For every shower he allegedly paid between 100,000 to 300,000 rupiah (A$10- A$30).
"He made sure the victim did not leave empty handed so they would feel happy and not realise they had been harassed," Chief Judge Sukanila said.
"Even to some of the children the defendant is considered a good man."
In sentencing Ellis and also fining him 2 billion rupiah (A$200,000), the judge said the Australian had robbed the children of their futures.
Ellis looked shocked as the decision was delivered, later telling reporters: "I'm 70 now. Fifteen years would take me to 85. I don't know if I will live that long."
His legal team say they will appeal his sentence.
In a disturbing letter previously penned to the court, Ellis said treating children under 16 as minors was not 'God's law' and that he respected 'God's law but not man's'.
He maintains he had done nothing wrong by bathing them, and that the children were his good friends who probably wanted to see him freed.
The Australian Federal Police told a senate estimates hearing in Canberra this month that Australia was a supplier of travelling sex offenders to the region but that Indonesia had lately changed their approach and were turning more people away.
Acting deputy commissioner of operations, Justine Saunders said there were approximately 900 recorded attempts by registered sex offenders to travel last year - 41 per cent of whom went to Southeast Asia.
However, Indonesia had experienced some "success" with rates of Australian offenders travelling there dropping from around 21 instances per month in 2014 to 10 per month last year.
