Paedophile Scot who went on the run is arrested in French resort

Published on Tuesday 19 August 2008 21:35

A DANGEROUS paedophile, who became the first Scot to be posted on a child protection agency's "Most Wanted" site, has been arrested in the south of France.

Joseph Millbank, described as a serious danger to children, went on the run at the end of June, when he vanished from his address in Perth after being freed early from a ten-year prison sentence for a string of child abuse offences.

Last month, after Tayside police received information that Millbank had fled to France, he became the first Scot to be posted on the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre's (CEOP) "Most Wanted" website in a Europe-wide bid to trace him.

A spokeswoman for the Tayside force said last night: "Tayside police can confirm that 47-year-old Joseph Herbert Millbank has been traced in St Tropez in France this afternoon.

"Millbank had been missing from his address in Perth since 27 June. Tayside Police quickly established that he had travelled to France and alerted Interpol. The French Authorities traced him in St Tropez at about 2:30pm."

She added: "It is understood that Millbank will now appear in court in France, after which time the Crown Office and the Procurator-Fiscal Service will instigate extradition proceedings."

Millbank, from Luncarty in Perthshire, was jailed for six years in 2002 after he admitted 16 indecency charges against girls in Stirling, Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Elgin and Dundee.

He abused 32 victims, aged three to eight, and captured their ordeals on camera.