Worker at nursery assaulted young boys

Alexander Mortimer, 28, made 1,385 indecent images and 350 videos of children, and filmed the offences being carried out.

Images found on his laptop and hard drive device ranged from level one “erotic” images to level five, which can include sadism.

He was working at a childcare facility in Rutherglen, run by South Lanarkshire Council, when he committed the offences between January 2009 and January this year.

At the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting young children, taking indecent photographs of children and of possessing indecent photos of children.

The older of the two boys was interviewed by police and social workers, but the younger boy was deemed too young to give a statement.

Senior advocate depute Alison Di Rollo, who is deputy head of the National Sexual Crimes Unit, said his conduct had been “premeditated and escalating” in nature.

When his home was searched by police, he told officers he had researched child abuse for his college course.

Some of the offences took place in the toilets of Asda supermarkets in Glasgow, as well as in Queens Park and at an amusement park in Strathclyde Park.

Judge Lady Stacey placed Mortimer on the sex offenders’ register and adjourned the case until 27 June.