POLICE investigating allegations of sexual abuse at a nursery found indecent images of children on computer seized from there, a court was told.
The computer had been donated to the Inverness-shire nursery by nursery manager Mark Maclennan, 30, who denies raping a three-year-old boy at the nursery and sexually abusing a girl when she was aged between four and five.
A third charge of sexually abusing another three-year-old boy was withdrawn at the end of the Crown case and Maclennan was formally acquitted of that charge by trial judge John Morris QC.
Maclennan, who is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow, also denies abusing a girl when she was aged between 12 and 15 at addresses in Stirling, Dunblane and Dunfermline and possessing indecent images of children.
Advocate depute Kath Harper, prosecuting, read out a joint minute of facts agree by the prosecution and defence to the jury.
This revealed that computer experts from the Police Scotland Specialist Crime Division examined the computer, which Maclennan brought into the nursery.
They found a total of 4,673 indecent images and seven indecent videos of children under the age of 16.
Ms Harper told the jury of nine women and six men: "The majority show posed young girls wearing underwear, swimwear or revealing costumes. In some images there breasts are exposed. Images of naked young girls were also found.
"The videos show young girls posing in underwear and posed nude young girls and one image shows a young girl lying on a bed in only a t-shirt and focuses on her genitals."
The court heard the majority of the images and videos were recovered from within a deleted folder.
Ms Harper said that searches made on the computer included "preteen" and "nude preteen" and added: "Examination of the computer revealed that the user was Mark Maclennan."
The prosecutor added: "The indecent images and videos were on the computer and in the possession of the accused between February 22, 2009 and May 29, 2013.
"The vast majority were of girls aged about 12 to 16, but there were some indecent images of younger children under the age of 10.
"The images depicted erotic posing with no sexual activity."
A laptop computer was also seized from Maclennan's then home at Alexandra Place, Stirling, and examined.
They found four indecent images of children under the age of 16 and searches on the computer included "underage webcam" and 'sexy little girls by Nikon L26."
The trial before judge John Morris QC continues.
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