Caithness teenager had 1600 sex abuse images of children on iPhones

A former relief support care worker has admitted possessing a cache of indecent photos and videos of children as young as four.

Jack Hutchinson, who appeared on indictment at Wick Sheriff Court, will be sentenced next month.

The 19-year-old was 15 when he started his collection, Sheriff Neil Wilson was told on Tuesday.

In just over a three-year period from March 2021, Hutchinson accumulated 1644 images and videos.

Fiscal depute Grant McLennan said that the majority of the images recovered from the accused’s iPhones featured young males and females performing sexual acts with other children, adult females and adult males.

The videos showed young females exposing themselves to the camera while committing sexual acts. Hutchinson pleaded guilty to the charge, brought under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act, 1982.

The court was told that Hutchinson was caught in a police intelligence operation. Their National Child Abuse Team discovered that he had uploaded a video of child sexual abuse.

Officers searched Hutchinson’s home at Scarfskerry on June 7, 2024, and he gave them passwords to his iPhones, containing extensive material.

Hutchinson was arrested on June 11 and taken to Wick Police Station where he made no reply when he was cautioned and charged.

The case was continued for a background report until April 16 when Sheriff Wilson will hear mitigation from Hutchinson’s solicitor, Fiona MacDonald, before passing sentence.

The accused was meantime instructed to place himself on the sex offenders’ register.