SNS GroupA man who lived a seemingly ‘normal’ life in rural Perthshire paid a woman in the Philippines to sexually abuse children, a court heard.
Ian Birse, 42, would pay £100 at a time for the woman to send him photos of children from the country being harmed.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Birse had spent approximately six years chatting to the woman on a website for sex workers and Telegram, an encrypted chat app.
Judge Lord Ewing also heard how the woman would find children for Birse and send him images showing them being sexually abused.
The court heard how he told detectives these victims were aged between eight and 15.
But in a message Birse sent to the woman in May 2025, he said: “Honestly, right now, I need younger, much younger.”
Birse’s activities ended after Scottish police received information that he was paying for the sexual abuse of children in the Philippines.
Officers raided his home in Balbeggie, Perthshire, in November last year and seized six mobile phones, four laptops and a hard drive – cybercrime experts later found child abuse images on the devices.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Adrian Stalker told Lord Ewing about how Birse spoke to officers about his crimes at a police station in Dundee on November 25 last year.
Mr Stalker said: “Near the beginning of the interview, when asked to comment on the indecent images of children found on his phone, the accused said ‘there will be a selection of girls from the Philippines in various states of undress in various locations’.
“He was asked where he got the images from. He said ‘they were sent to me apparently by the mother of one of the girls involved in the pictures. Some others apparently came from the girl in the pictures, although I don’t know if that’s true.’
“He was asked how old the girls were. He said ‘Ages I believe range from eight to 15.”
The story emerged on Tuesday when Birse pleaded guilty to possessing child sex abuse images at his home between August 2012 and November 2025.
A legal document showed the details of the third charge to which Birse admitted.
He pleaded guilty to a charge which stated that between August 2012 and November 2025, from his home in Balbeggie, he incited a woman, known only as ‘Jenalyn’ to cause “female children” under the age of 13 to “participate in sexual activity”.
He also admitted to making “specific requests to Jenalyn for “sexual images to be made of children in return for payment.”
On Tuesday, Mr Stalker told of how Birse worked as a railway conductor.
The advocate depute told the court what Birse also told officers during his interview about his online relationship with Jenalyn.
Many of the details are too explicit to be reported.
Mr Stalker added: “He said, ‘We talked about fantasies and things that were extreme to talk about.
“When asked what he had meant by things that were ‘extreme’, the accused said: ‘Just that. Involving minors, it wasn’t something that I had ever, would ever, could ever consider in real life, but in that environment, it was just, it just pushed boundaries, and it just kept pushing’.
“He also confirmed that Jenalyn sent him images on Skype and through Telegram.
“He stated that Jenalyn lived in the Philippines and that they had started communicating years ago, that they had never met in person, and that she had one daughter whom he believed to be the same age as his own daughter – eight years old.
“On being asked about the average payment made, the accused said ‘if it was for a full set of pictures.. it would perhaps be about £100.
“On being asked what was meant by a full set of pictures, the accused said ‘it’s usually 15 to 20 pictures of one of the girls in various states of undress.
“The accused confirmed that when he received these images he would use them for his own sexual gratification.”
Mr Stalker told the court that the detectives who interviewed Birse asked him about why he expressed a preference for “videos and images involving mothers and daughters.”
The prosecutor added: “The accused said ‘it’s an extreme taboo fantasy, seeing a mother and daughter perform together.”
Mr Stalker added: “Various conversations were found to have taken place between the accused and Jenalyn on the Telegram application between October 15, 2024 and November 24, 2025.
“These show that Jenalyn was sharing images of female children with the accused in exchange for financial payment.”
The court also heard Birse say that images found on his electronic devices predated his relationship with Jenalyn and had dated from 2012.
Birse held his head in his hands and appeared to weep as Mr Stalker narrated the facts of the case to Lord Ewing.
Cybercrime experts found four accessible category A images on the devices which showed the most serious kind of child sexual abuse. There were also three accessible category B images and ten accessible category C images.
Defence advocate Tony Lenehan KC told the court that he would reserve his mitigation until a sentencing hearing, which will be held later this year.
Speaking about the first offender, Mr Lenehan added: ”It is frankly inexplicable by any measure that a man whose life is otherwise normal was engaging in such practices.
“Reports in this case may assist your lordship.”
Lord Ewing told Birse that he was deferring sentence for the court to obtain a report on his background.
He added: “You will be remanded in custody.”
Birse will next appear at the High Court in Glasgow on December 15, 2026.
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