Pervert carer snatched images of schoolgirls in Edinburgh swimming pool changing room
Ryan Miller, 29, placed a mobile phone under the cubicle the two schoolchildren were changing in and took sordid photographs of them while they were partially clothed.
The girls, aged just eight and nine-years-old, were targeted by Miller after they had finished swimming lessons with their classmates at Portobello Swim Centre in Edinburgh.
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Hide AdVile Miller was challenged by a member of staff at the leisure centre but he fled the scene before police could attend.
He was later arrested at his home where he claimed he had “dropped my phone” by accident while he was in his cubicle.
Miller later confessed to his girlfriend he was attracted to children and had attempted to snap pictures of the two semi-naked girls at the pool.
He pleaded guilty to placing his phone under the cubicle where the two girls were changing and taking or attempting to take pictures of them and commit a breach of the peace when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.
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Hide AdHe was back in the dock for sentencing and Sheriff Peter McCormack placed him on the Sex Offenders’ Register for a five year term.
Miller was also banned from contacting children under the age of 16 and placed on a supervision order to monitor his behaviour for the next two years. He will also be electronically tagged and must stay within his home between the hours of 8pm and 6am for 135 days.
Previously prosecutor Jack Castor told the court Miller, from Joppa, Edinburgh, arrived at the capital swimming pool with the man he was a caring for at around 12.50pm on September 23, 2019.
The two young victims were having lessons at the pool and following their tuition the pair were changing together within a cubicle.
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Hide AdMr Castor said: “Around 1.50pm the swimming lesson came to an end and all the children left the pool and made their way to the changing area.
“The girls entered the same cubicle and began to change. They took off their swimming costumes and began to dress themselves.
“One observed a hand appearing from the foot of the neighbouring cubicle holding a mobile phone.
“She heard it making a noise which she associated with taking photos.
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Hide AdThe fiscal said the second girl then “peered round the cubicle door” and saw Miller make his way from the area on his own.
A swim centre supervisor who was alerted to the scene challenged Miller about the incident.
But Miller shouted “I’m not doing this here” and left the centre before police arrived.
He was apprehended two days later and told officers “I know what this is about. It’s about when I dropped my phone the other day.”
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Hide AdMr Castor added following Miller being arrested and charged he told his partner “he had been filming children at a swimming pool” and that “he was attracted to children”.
The court was told the woman immediately ended her relationship with Miller that day.
Defending solicitor Phil Moore told the court Miller had “taken steps himself” to address his behaviour and had been attending sessions with the child sexual abuse prevention organisation Stop It Now.