AN Edinburgh man has been warned he is facing a jail sentence after he was caught in possession of a horror haul of child abuse images.
Erwin Ian Schmid was found to have downloaded images of children as young as four years old being sexually abused by adults when police raided his home in January last year.
Schmid had stored more than 1,100 pictures on his mobile phone depicting mainly female children being raped, forced to engage in oral sex and committing solo sex acts.
The Sheriff Court was also told the 51-year-old was in possession of sadistic images that showed young victims being abused while tied up with ropes and tape.
Schmid, of the city’s Wester Hailes, appeared in the dock on Thursday and pleaded guilty to possessing the images between September 15, 2021 and January 7 last year.
Fiscal depute, Rachel Hill, told the court that police received intelligence that child abuse material was being accessed and carried out a raid on the one bedroom ground floor flat on 10 January last year.
Ms Hill said a mobile phone was seized and a forensic examination of the device revealed a total of 1116 images – with 38 rated at the most depraved level of Category A.
The victims were described as “mainly female, although some male, between the ages of four and 18 years of age”.
Solicitor David Storrie told the court his client has “a significant previous conviction” but asked for his bail to be continued until the sentencing hearing.
Sheriff Graeme Watson granted bail with several conditions including a ban on contact with anyone under the age of 18 and restrictions on any computer and internet access.
The sheriff placed Schmid on the sex offenders register and told him: “Be under no illusion, every sentencing option is available at the next occasion including custody.”
