A child rapist who photographed his horrific abuse of an infant and shared the images through an app has been warned he faces a lengthy jail sentence.
Matthew Sinclair, 28, was caught after he left his mobile phone on charge and a woman looked at its contents and found the messages on an app.
She photographed the pictures and his conversation with another party, known only as “Anonymous”, and contacted the police.
Factory worker Sinclair admitted raping the infant, and distributing or showing indecent photos, when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.
A judge told him he had committed “acts of breathtaking wickedness and depravity”.
Michael O’Grady QC said: “Only a very significant sentence in custody can begin to reflect the gravity of these crimes.”
The judge deferred sentence on the first offender for the preparation of a background report and risk assessment – and remanded him in prison.
Sinclair, from Elgin, committed the abuse at an address in the Moray area.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC said: “The accused took indecent photographs of the child and distributed these to an unknown person.”
The prosecutor said that when the woman looked at Sinclair’s phone she came across the Viber app.
On it she found a series of sexualised messages between Sinclair and the other individual, which began with him asking: “You got any taboos?”
During the exchange, Sinclair sent naked images of the child to his contact.
Cybercrime experts who examined Sinclair’s phone found a conversation between him and a user named “Anonymous” and confirmed four photos of the abuse of the child victim were forwarded to the unidentified individual.
Defence counsel Susan Duff said that, when she consulted with Sinclair in September, he told her he wanted to plead guilty.
Sinclair was put on the sex offenders register.
