66-year-old Edinburgh man appears in court after police find more than 75,000 child abuse images at property

An Edinburgh man who was caught with more than 75,000 child abuse images claimed he was not a threat to children because he is impotent.

Martin Millar, 66, told police he could not cause any harm to children as he cannot sustain an erection and had not had sex for 15 years when officers raided his capital home last year.

Millar was found to be in possession of a large collection of vile images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as two-years-old when devices were seized from his home in the Davidson Mains area of the city.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told police had received intelligence indecent material involving children was being viewed at Millar’s home and officers turned up with a search warrant on April 6 last year.

Prosecutor Connor Muir said: “Officers found the accused within the property alone and when he was made aware why the police were there he replied ‘I’m guilty, I’ve not had sex for 15 years’.

“[He said] I can’t hurt children, I can’t get an erection and I am not a threat to children.”

The court was told a system unit and two USB sticks were seized from the home and a subsequent forensic examination showed they contained indecent images of children.

Mr Muir said a total of 75,302 accessible and inaccessible images were found with 1454 rated at Category A - the most depraved end of the scale.

The fiscal said a further 279 videos of children being abused by adults were also discovered.

The court was told the children involved in the sexual abuse were aged between two-years-old and 15.

The fiscal added after Millar had been cautioned he told officers: “I accept the charge. I know I have done wrong but it is down to my mental state.”

Defending solicitor Euan Gosney admitted his client had downloaded “a significant number of images” and said he had been engaging with the sex offenders organisation Stop It Now since his arrest.

Sheriff Alistair Noble placed Millar on the Sex Offenders Register and deferred sentence for social work reports and a risk assessment to be prepared to next month.

Millar appeared at the capital’s sheriff court today (February 6) where he pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at his home between May 15, 2020 and April 6 last year.