Andrew Miller, who abducted a primary school pupil while dressed as a woman before sexually assaulting the girl repeatedly over more than 24 hours, has been jailed for 20 years.
Miller, also known as Amy George, lured the young victim into his car after offering to give her a lift home in February this year.
The former butcher, 53, who identifies as transgender and is said to be in the process of transitioning, instead drove the girl to his own house in the Scottish Borders and trapped her in his bedroom.
Miller, who was addressed as a male by the court, then subjected his victim to a series of sexual assaults over the course of the next 27 hours. He also made her watch pornography.
As well as the 20-year jail term, Miller will also be supervised for eight years upon his release from prison.
Defence advocate Victoria Dow told the court that Miller “recognises and feels the horror of his conduct” and was said to feel “considerable shame”.
The High Court in Edinburgh was previously told the girl was only able to escape after Miller fell asleep on the second night of her ordeal.
She tipped over a glass of water and turned on the bedroom light in an attempt to wake him, but he did not rouse. She then found his landline and raised the alarm. Police arrived at the Gattonside home within a matter of minutes.
Officers found Miller wearing a bra with silicone breasts, women’s underwear and tights.
Judge Lord Arthurson previously described the “abhorrent crimes” as the “realisation of every parent’s worst nightmare”.
Miller had pleaded guilty to abduction, sexual assault, intentionally causing a child to look at a sexual image, and possessing 242 indecent images of children.
Miller and the victim were not known to each other.
The girl told officers that she accepted a lift because she believed Miller – who was wearing women’s clothing – was non-threatening.
During a police interview, 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 looked “freezing”.
He said he put her in his bed with him because it was a “motherly thing”, and admitted he should have called the police and should “never have gotten into this situation”.
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.
The local butcher shop Miller once owned in Melrose – which had been closed before the abduction – was boarded up by police at the time.
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Miller was remanded into the male prison estate after pleading guilty in May.
It followed new guidelines for trans prisoners who commit sexual offences following a public outcry over the Isla Bryson case.
Double rapist Bryson was initially placed in an all-female prison before being moved to a jail with male inmates.
Bryson, who attacked two women while she was a man, decided to transition while awaiting trial, which provoked outrage among campaigners.
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At the time of Miller’s guilty pleas, First Minister Humza Yousaf told Sky News that he could not say whether he would be moved to a women’s jail after being sentenced.
Speaking to the media at Holyrood, he added: “The Scottish Prison Service has protocols in place.
“Those have recently been updated in relation to some other very well-publicised cases, and therefore I’m very confident in any risk assessment SPS makes in this regard.”
