An Angus doctor is behind bars after being caught paying for the sexual services of children online.
Kieran Titheridge, from Arbroath, who was a trainee at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, made four payments over a period of two months to a woman living abroad.
In exchange for the cash the 34-year-old was allowed to choose from a range of girls who he would watch on Skype while they stripped in front of a webcam.
Titheridge was also caught with hundreds of images of children on his computers after police raided his home in Aberdeen’s Union Grove.
The High Court in Aberdeen heard that officers launched an investigation after they were informed he had sent money via PayPal to an email account between October 14 and December 26 2012.
The court heard it was believed the email address was linked to child abuse.
Officers carried out a search of the property in Aberdeen, where he had lived on his own while working in the geriatrics department of the hospital, and at his family home in Arbroath.
Laptops seized from both addresses were analysed and a total of 366 photographs of children and two indecent videos were recovered.
Text messages sent via Skype revealed he had engaged in several conversations with a foreign woman in 2012.
The court heard Titheridge, of South Street, Arbroath, had asked her if she had naked young girls and asked their age.
She then asked him if he wanted to “play”, and initially informed him he would have to pay her $30.
Confirming through Skype that he had sent payment, he requested to see a girl’s bottom before the conversation ended.
He sent a further three payments of £10 to the woman on different dates for sexual services involving children.
The woman informed Titheridge that the children were sleeping, so could not provide the service.
The court heard he got in touch with the woman again on November 20, asking: “Are the young girls awake?”
The doctor’s bank accounts showed that payments had been made to the woman.
Advocate depute Sheena Fraser, prosecuting, told the court: “The precise ages of the children can’t be determined, but it is acknowledged that the panel claims that the youngest child he saw would be 14 years old.”
Judge Lord Kinclaven remanded him in custody and called for background reports.
He deferred sentence until February 25 at the High Court in Edinburgh.