Paedophile jailed after recordings of child rapes found on computer seized from St Helens home

Melvin Miller, 44, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday for a series of assaults on two victims, which he captured on camera.

Merseyside Police were alerted when one of his victims, who were aged six and 11 when the abuse started, told a friend.

But the full scale of his offending was not clear until police seized the computer from his home in St Helens and found videos of his assaults on the girls, as well as more than 255,000 other indecent images of children.

John Wyn Williams, prosecuting, said: "It was only when the police made a thorough examination of the defendant's hard drive that the extent of what the defendant had done to both these young girls unfolded."

In one of the videos, Miller offered to give a donut to his victim after abusing her.

Miller, who appeared by videolink from HMP Liverpool wearing a grey jumper, pleaded guilty to 16 offences of raping a child under the age of 13, 12 counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one count of assault by penetration of a child, one offence of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and five counts of making or possessing indecent images.

Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt QC said the offences had a "profound" effect on his victims and their families, and had caused "irreparable harm".

He said: "When you were interviewed by police you denied the allegations put to you and said there were no indecent images on your computer.

"If you had been truly remorseful you would have admitted your offending at that stage. You waited until you were confronted with the evidence, which you had created yourself and which left you with no option but to plead guilty to these offences."

The court heard no evidence was found of Miller distributing videos of the abuse, but Judge Flewitt said: "Your victims and their families will always wonder whether that may have happened."

He said also found on Miller's computer was a "library" of indecent images of children, including more than 6,000 classed as category A, 5,000 category B and 74,000 category C.

The judge said: "In addition there were something in the order of 170,000 uncategorised images, making this the largest collection ever encountered by Merseyside Police.

"People like you create a market for the recordings of that abuse."

Paul Lewis, defending, said Miller had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.

The judge said: "That is the only real mitigation available to you."

Miller, of Mountsfield in Frome, Somerset, was also made subject to notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order and ordered to serve an additional licence period of 12 months.

Speaking after the sentencing, Mairead Neeson of CPS Mersey Cheshire said: "Miller abused these girls for his own sexual gratification with no thought for the distress, confusion and trauma he was causing them.

"These were children, dragged into an adult world that they clearly didn't understand and caused them a great deal of suffering.

"Miller is a prolific paedophile and the Crown Prosecution Service has worked hard to bring him to justice."

Detective Inspector Yoseph Al-Ramadhan said: "Miller is a dangerous sexual predator who will now be facing a significant time in prison and a lifetime of monitoring.

"Thanks to the bravery of his victims, throughout what is an extremely difficult process, detectives were able to carry out this complex investigation and put Miller before the courts."