Found ex nudes hidden on phone

Hi okay so I am very confused on what to do. My partner has an iPad that he was using to play songs for our baby. realized that his photos and iCloud transferred over some of his old stuff. Nude photos of ex women from his life. These were not in any hidden folder btw. Just in the main photos that could pop up at any time.

I then did some snooping because this made me uncomfortable.... I found that he had these same photos saved in the hidden folder on his phone.

I confronted him that I saw them on the iPad. He denied having any idea why they were there and said he didn't have anything like that on his phone. I got nervous to mention I found them in the hidden folder, too.

My question is - is he lying? Is there any way he could be telling the truth and not have realized the ones on his phone were hidden?

He is claiming that the iCloud must have pulled over old photos that he didn't realize were on there. But that he isn't aware of any on his phone.

My only issue with this is that wouldn't the photos he hid show up on the iPad if if was an old iCloud sync?

There were other photos that show as hidden on the iPad & hidden on his phone. It almost seems like these photos were intentionally hidden later on (not prior to me - I have been with him for over 4 years).

I don't know what to do....

I am putting this here because we are in the discussion and process of getting married. We have a baby together.