A transgender butcher has admitted abducting a schoolgirl from a street in the Scottish Borders before locking her inside his bedroom and sexually abusing her.
Andrew Miller, also known as Amy George, lured the young victim into his car in February while dressed as a woman.
The 53-year-old, who was addressed as a male by the court, appeared via video link to plead guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday.
The court was told the child was walking home when the sex offender, who was a stranger, offered her a lift in his vehicle.
Miller, who is currently transitioning, confined his victim inside his bedroom before repeatedly sexually assaulting her.
The prosecution described how the child only managed to escape and call 999 when Miller fell asleep.
Police described her fear as “palpable” when she was rescued from Miller’s home.
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The age of the victim and location of the crimes cannot be revealed to protect the victim’s identity.
The local butcher shop he once owned was boarded up by detectives at the time.
The judge described the crimes as “abhorrent” and “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
Miller will be sentenced in August.
The Scottish parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed in Holyrood last year, but the government in Westminster announced it was blocking the bill from Royal Assent and becoming law – the first time the power has been used since devolution nearly 25 years ago.
Critics have raised concerns predatory men could obtain a gender recognition certificate in Scotland in order to gain access to single-sex spaces and place women in jeopardy, and those spaces would have to adopt different policies.
Those in favour of the bill argue it would introduce a simpler and fairer way for trans men and women to be legally recognised as who they are.
