Edinburgh child abuse image hoarder thought app would delete pictures from his computer

A pervert who was caught with hundreds of indecent images of children admitted his crime when confronted by police.

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Brian Reid, 63, was caught in possession of 397 still images and 387 videos of children being sexually abused by adults when police raided his home last October.

Reid attempted to hide his perversion by using a computer application which deleted the images after he had viewed them.

Pervert will return to Edinburgh Sheriff Court next month to learn his fate

But forensic officers were able to trace the inaccessible images on three devices owned by Reid which had been seized during the search of his home.

READ MORE: Edinburgh pervert sent explicit films of himself to paedophile sting decoy

Reid, of Gorgie, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to two charges when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Fiscal depute Rosie Cook said police attended at Reid’s home on October 20 last year with a search warrant after receiving intelligence images were being downloaded at the property.

Ms Cook said the horrific images and videos were stored on a laptop, a USB stick and an SD card.

The images were said to contain still images and video footage of children between six-years-old and 12-years-old being sexually abused by adults.

The court heard there were 44 Category A images - the most depraved end of the spectrum - 40 at category B and a further 313 Category C.

Police found internet file names on the devices including “12-year-old boy”, “seven-year-old and 10-year-old” and one named “pre-teen HC”.

READ MORE: Edinburgh paedophile caught with images of babies being abused

The court was told Reid was interviewed by police on October 20 last year and he admitted to owning the devices and to using “a cleaner app” which attempts to destroy traces of the images after being viewed.

Solicitor Gillian Simpson said her client was engaging with the Stop It Now organisation but added she would defer her mitigation to the sentencing hearing.

Sheriff Daniel Kelly placed Reid on the Sex Offenders’ Register and deferred full sentence to August for the preparation of reports.

Reid pleaded guilty to taking, or allowing to be taken, indecent images of children at his home between June 27 and October 20 last year.

He also admitted a charge of possessing indecent images of children between the same dates.

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