A Troon man has been warned he faces a jail term for possessing horrific images of child pornography - and for making indecent calls to children.

Kenzie McKay also confessed to sending images of himself performing a sex act to under-age girls.

The 22-year-old stared into space when the details of his crimes were read out in court.

McKay, of Walker Avenue, pleaded guilty to five charges at Ayr Sheriff Court.

The procurator fiscal depute told the court: "The locus was his home address. Officers attended on October 27, 2022.

"The door was answered by the accused's mother and he was found upstairs in the bedroom. A search was carried out and an iPhone found. Cyber crime officers later confirmed it contained child sex abuse material.

"The accused told officers 'it was a stupid thing, I regret it'."

But McKay committed similar offences the following year, in February 2023.

The fiscal continued: "Police later heard indecent images had again been uploaded to the internet from the locus. They attended the address and a search was carried out.

"An iPhone was discovered in the back garden and he said, 'I threw it out the window when police arrived'."

Cyber crime specialists found 180 underage sexual and exploitation pictures on his device, featuring children aged between two and 13. 

They included horrific images of children being abused by men, and on one occasion a woman.

Details of some of the images were read out in court but are too graphic to describe in the Advertiser.

Many of the images or pseudo-images were described as 'category A', the most serious type.

McKay, the court heard, also sent indecent pictures of him performing a sex act to children.

He asked one child what age she was and when she replied '13', he sent back the message: "Hot."

He urged some children to send indecent images back to him.

The presiding sheriff warned McKay: "A custodial sentence is at the forefront of the court's mind."

Sentence was deferred to a later date for background reports and a risk assessment, while McKay, whose bail was continued, was also added to the sex offenders register.

A decision on how long his name will remain on the register will be made when he is sentenced.