A man who kept pictures of young children “posing erotically” and had a video of a girl carrying out a sex act on herself claims he did not gain sexual gratification from the indecent images.
Nicholas Gardner, 45, was caught following a tip-off to police about the images in his possession.
A search uncovered 10 category C images and a single category B video.
The images featured girls between the ages of five and 12, while the video was of a girl aged between 10 and 12.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told Inverness Sheriff Court: “Police were contacted by a witness and given information that the accused may have in his possession indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children.”
The court heard that police then seized equipment from Gardner and a subsequent search uncovered the images and video.
Images and video of young girls
The court was told the images showed girls “posing erotically” while the video featured a girl “naked from the waist down, rubbing her private areas”.
Solicitor Neil Wilson, for Gardner, told the court that his client did not gain sexual gratification from the images but added: “He accepts that what he did isn’t legal.
“He accepts it is something he should not have done.”
Sheriff Margaret Neilson imposed a community payback order with one year’s supervision and 100 hours of unpaid work.
She also made Gardner, of Craigellachie Crescent, Aviemore subject to the notification requirements of the sex offenders register for the same period.
