AN ALLOA man will be sentenced next month after admitting to being in possession of over 31,000 indecent images of children.

Kenneth Hynd pleaded guilty during a brief hearing at Alloa Sheriff Court on Tuesday (16 June).

The 33-year-old was charged with having in his possession indecent photographs, or pseudo-photographs, of children at his address in Orkney Court, Alloa, between 18 April 2014 and 16 July 2014.

As part of the plea bargain negotiated by Hynd’s defence team, the Crown agreed to drop a charge of making, taking or permitting the taking of indecent images of children, as well as a further charge of possessing extreme pornographic images depicting in an explicit and realistic way the sexual assault and torture of females and sexual activity between animals and adults.

Depute fiscal Beverly Adam told the court: “Intelligence led to a search of the locus...computer equipment was seized with one unit found to contain indecent images of children.

“There were a number of family members in the locus but by a process of elimination it was found the computer was the property of the accused who had sole use.” Ms Adam added that the number of the images found totalled at 31,577 still images at category C level – the most minor of gradings.

There were also 35 videos recovered, 32 of which were category C and three were category B.

The court also heard that the images had to be retrieved using specialist software after being previously deleted.

Sheriff Gillian Wade ordered criminal justice social work reports to be carried out and informed Hynd that as he was placed on the sex offender’s register, he was now subject to the notification requirements of Sexual Offences Act.

He will return to Alloa Sheriff Court on Thursday (23 July) for sentencing.