Steven MacMillan, 53, of Dalkeith, Midlothian, has been jailed after sending sick sexual messages to a 13-year-old girl which were eventually found by the child’s mother
A dentist bombarded a teenage girl with depraved sexual messages calling himself “daddy” and telling her “good girls do what they are told”, a court heard.
Steven MacMillan, 53, contacted the 13-year-old from Newcastle on social media where he told her he was a dentist from Scotland. The pair began to chat and she told him her age before the conversation became highly sexualised. She sent him an image of herself performing a sex act before he began sending her a string of sickening voice notes.
In one message he told her: “When daddy asks you to do something you better do it or there will be trouble.” And in another message he added: “Good girls do what they are told.”
The disturbing messages were discovered by the girl’s mother who was left horrified when she had been in contact with MacMillan between February and March 2023.
She contacted an online paedophile vigilante group who confronted him at his then home in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, and police were called in.
MacMillan, now of Dalkeith, Midlothian, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted communicating indecently with the youngster who is now receiving counselling.
Sheriff Colin Dunipace said there was no alternative to custody and he was jailed for 20 months as well as being placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
Depute fiscal Scott O’Connor told the court: “The complainer’s mother confiscated her phone and observed numerous Snapchat notifications from various users and noted a user called Steve and enquired what she had been discussing.
“The complainer confirmed she had been involved in sexual communication and the mother opened the account and noted the voice notes on the device. She was concerned for the complainer and contacted an online child safety team who later attended the accused’s home where police were also contacted and arrested the accused.”
The court was played eight voice notes where MacMillan made vile sexual remarks towards the girl. Alan Gravelle, defending, said: “Plainly the custodial threshold has been crossed standing the age of the victim and the graphic content of the communication.
“Many aspects of this case are difficult to rationalise and in many respects it remains inexplicable that he should fall into this two-week period of offending when he had the stability of lifestyle including marriage and children, a successful academic career that then turned into a successful professional career and the financial stability that comes with it.”
Sheriff Dunipace told MacMillan: “The content of the communication was graphic and disturbing and they could leave no-one who heard them in any doubt of your intention when engaging with this child and hearing those conversations was harrowing and chilling.
“This was not a one-off but a part of a premeditated and sustained course of conduct where you sought to deprive her of her innocence for your depraved gratification.”
The sheriff said it was ‘tragic’ to see someone like MacMillan in the dock but added that he had a ‘duty to protect’ youngsters and jail was the only option to deter others from similar offending.
MacMillan, who qualified in 1995, has been suspended from working in dentistry by regulators since March 2023 and will remain suspended until at least December 31 this year. But it is likely he will be struck off by the General Dental Council (GDC) after he admitted his sickening crimes.