Sentence was deferred on an Inverness sex offender who confessed to social workers that he had watched a DVD containing indecent images of children.
Iain MacIntyre, 42, then posted the recording to a policeman before he was arrested and returned to jail to serve out the remainder of a previous sentence.
MacIntyre had been staying at Cale House in Millburn Road, Inverness when the offence took place.
The court heard he had been released from prison on licence for a similar offence in June, 2012 and was subject to routine monitoring by the Offender Monitoring team.
Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart said: “On April 22, he arrived unannounced at a social worker’s office and told her he had been looking at indecent images of children.
“She told the police and they detained him. They thought he was having a breakdown and took him to New Craigs as he said he could see demons coming from his TV set.
“He was assessed and the conclusion was that he wasn’t suffering from a mental health illness but was showing some signs of stress.
“The DVD they found did not reveal any indecent material.
“Then six days later on April 28, a letter was received by the police containing a DVD wrapped in cardboard.
“It was from MacIntyre who said he had found it in his belongings. It contained 7,536 indecent images of 13-year-olds at the lowest end of the depravity scale.There were also 28 videos at the lower end of the scale.
“He said he told the social workers because he didn’t want to go back to jail.” Mr Urquhart added.
Defence lawyer Robert Turnbull said: “This is one of the most unusual cases I have dealt with in some time.
“But I will reserve any further comments until a background report is prepared.”
MacIntyre will re-appear for sentence on March 17.