A Scots pervert caught collecting child abuse images over eight years confessed to cops about his sick “sexual desire” toward young girls.
David Ritchie was snared after police raided his Edinburgh home under warrant and seized several electronic devices.
The 45-year-old immediately admitted to officers he’d “developed a sexual interest in females aged 12 to 15”, a court heard.
Ritchie told how he’d trawl the internet for twisted photos of youngsters posing in underwear.
Officers also found Category A images showing victims being sexually abused by adults.
Ritchie appeared at the city’s sheriff court on Tuesday and admitted possessing indecent images of children at his Leith address between April 24 2012 and October 22 2020.
Fiscal depute Jennifer McLaren told how police received intelligence that child abuse imagery was being downloaded at Ritchie’s property.
Ms McLaren said they obtained a warrant and carried out a swoop at 7.30am on October 22 2020, finding Ritchie alone at home.
The court heard items were seized, including two laptops, a desk computer and server, and Ritchie was arrested.
Ms McLaren said Ritchie was quizzed by cops and “stated he’d developed a sexual interest in females aged 12 to 15” and admitted his “sexual desire towards children in this age range”.
The prosecutor said 756 Category C abuse images were found on the devices, where youngsters were naked or semi-naked, along with two at Category A.
She said the photos were all still accessible on the computers.
Defence agent Kevin Connor said Ritchie had possessed “still images, no videos” and “made a full admission to police”.
Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC deferred sentence on Ritchie until November for reports.
The sheriff placed Ritchie on the sex offenders register on an interim basis until the next hearing.
