Samantha Smith repeatedly preyed on a three-year-old and a five-year-old

30-year-old denied any wrongdoing between November 2009 and June 2014

Claimed to have been 'horrified' to have been accused of abusing the children

Samantha Smith (pictured above) was yesterday found guilty of the abuse and is now on the sex offenders register

A woman who sexually abused two children under the age of eight wept hysterically and screamed at a jury that she 'wasn't a beast' after being found guilty.

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Samantha Smith repeatedly preyed on a three-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy for two years.

The 30-year-old from Lanarkshire abused the children at a property in East Kilbride, Scotland.

The alarm was first raised in 2012 when the girl revealed Smith had touched her inappropriately and also abused her.

Following the allegations, a police investigation was launched, but it was later decided that there was insufficient evidence to pursue a prosecution.

In 2017 the boy, who suffers from autism, then revealed that Smith had also targeted him at the property.

After revealing the abuse he had suffered, he fled his home following an interview with police, which then sparked a missing person manhunt for the child.

He was later found cowering in a bush.

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Smith went on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court where she denied any wrongdoing between November 2009 and June 2014.

A jury took an hour to convict her of sexually abusing the youngsters at a house in East Kilbride.

As the guilty verdicts were returned against her, Smith wept and shouted 'I'm not a beast'.

Another 30-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons stated that the young girl had confided in her in relation to Smith's abuse.

Samantha Smith

Samantha Smith swears at photographers outside court

She told depute fiscal Vish Kathuria: 'She was very quiet, in fact both of the children were quiet and seemed withdrawn which I thought was quite unusual.

'One night she asked to speak to me and was quite nervous. She said she had a secret to tell me and she told me Samantha used to play with her flower.

'I was really upset and we both started crying and later she told her dad about what had happened and he got quite angry and upset about it.'

She also told how the boy also told her he was a victim of abuse.

She said: 'He told me in 2017 and again he was really quiet and withdrawn. He told me what had happened earlier had also been happening to him.

'He ran away after telling us about what had happened and the police got involved then.'

Smith told defence advocate Kelly Duling she was innocent and was 'elated' to be in court to clear her name.

Hamilton Sheriff Court (above) heard Smith express she 'wasn't a monster' she also said she was horrified to have been accused of the abuse

She added: 'I have not done anything wrong.

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'The first I heard about this was when the police came to the house. I'm horrified to be accused of these things.

'I'm actually elated at the thought of being in court to clear my name over this.

'I didn't abuse them, I am not some horrible monster that I'm being made out to be here.'

Sheriff Douglas Brown deferred sentence on Smith until next month for reports and continued bail.

She was placed on the sex offenders' register.