A child rapist who photographed his abuse of a two-year-old and shared the images through an app with an anonymous individual has been warned he faces a lengthy jail term.
Matthew Sinclair, 28, from Elgin, was caught after he left his mobile phone charging and a woman looked at its contents and found the messages on an app.
She photographed the pictures and conversation he had with “anonymous” and contacted the police.
Factory worker Sinclair admitted raping the child on August 11 this year and distributing or showing indecent photos on the same date 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.”
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The judge deferred sentence on first offender Sinclair, currently in Inverness jail, for the preparation of a background report and risk assessment and remanded him in custody.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC told the court the child was two years old when the rape took place.
He added: “The accused took indecent photos and distributed these to an unknown person.” The prosecutor said that when the woman looked at Sinclair’s phone she saw the app which she did not recognise.
On it she found a series of sexualised messages between Sinclair and the other individual, which began with him asking: “You got any taboos?” His contact mentioned “kid sex” and Sinclair replied: “Same.”
Defence counsel Susan Duff said that when she consulted with Sinclair in September he told her he wanted to plead guilty.
Sinclair was placed on the sex offenders register and was referred to Scottish ministers in terms of protection of vulnerable groups’ legislation
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