A man has admitted abducting a primary school aged girl while dressed as a woman before sexually assaulting her repeatedly over more than 24 hours.
Andrew Miller, 53, who is also known as Amy George, pleaded guilty to four charges – abduction, sexual assault, watching pornography in the presence of the child under the age of 13, and possessing 242 indecent images of children.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, a narrative of Miller’s offences were read out, which judge Lord Arthurson described as “abhorrent crimes” of the utmost “deviance and depravity” which were “the realisation of every parent’s worst nightmare”.
Miller worked in a local butcher shop, which had not been open for some months.
He and the victim were not known to each other.
The court heard Miller had approached the child in February this year when she was walking home to offer her a lift.
Instead of taking the child to her home, Miller took her to his home in the Scottish Borders.
There, he subjected her to acts of sexual assault in his bedroom over the course of the next 27 hours, the details of which were heard by the court.
When Miller fell asleep the child was able to call the police.
READ MORE: Man charged with abduction after disappearance of schoolgirl
While being interviewed following his arrest, Miller told detectives he did not abduct the girl and that it was “all a mistake”, saying he stopped to offer her a lift because “she was freezing”.
He said he put her in his bed with him because “it was a motherly thing”, and admitted he should have called police.
He admitted he should “never have gotten into this situation” during the interview, which lasted six hours.
Following his arrest, three laptops were seized from his property and a total of 242 indecent images of children were found, most of which were of the lowest category.
His internet history was also accessed, showing his searches for indecent images.
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed Miller is being held in a male prison but refused to say if he will be moved to a women’s jail following sentencing.
He told Sky News: “This is a gut-wrenching case, heartbreaking. I cannot think of the trauma the victim, the family and the community are going through.
“I can confirm Andrew Miller is being held in a male prison.”
Mr Yousaf refused to answer questions about whether this will be the case when Miller is sentenced later this year.
He said: “This is a live case, the sentencing is still to happen. I cannot comment on a live case.”
Miller, who appeared by videolink from HMP Edinburgh, was remanded in custody and will appear for sentencing on August 15.
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