The Berlin Police Department arrested Father Michael Miller of St. Paul's Church on three additional counts to the ones he is already facing. Miller was charged and arrested for obscenity, possession of child pornography and risk of injury to a minor.
Miller's case has been continued 11 times since he was originally charged on five felony counts of risk of injury to a minor and a misdemeanor obscenity charge. One of the reasons the court case may have been continued was that the Berlin Police Dept. was working on forensics from cell phones and computers, which according to police takes time.
These forensic clues provide more evidence in the case against Miller, who was very popular in his tenure at St. Paul's.
As part of the ongoing investigation, police served a warrant on Miller, 41, pastor of Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Kensington.
His case was originally ordered sealed by the court but was unsealed with lurid details of Miller's relationship with a young boy.
Miller was hospitalized on July 4 when he was taken by Life Star helicopter to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. Mystery surrounded the circumstances of his illness or injuries, though the Hartford Archdiocese acknowledged that Miller was under investigation and that the Franciscan Friars and Archdiocese were cooperating with the investigation.
According to the warrant, the Berlin Police Department received a complaint from the mother of a 13-year-old boy whose family members are parishioners of the church, which is located in Kensington. The woman told police that her son had become uncomfortable with the correspondence on Facebook and text messages from Father Michael Miller.
Police confiscated two computers from Miller, but before they could arrest him, he was flown to St. Francis Hospital on July 4 by Life Star after suffering a still-unspecified medical condition.
According to the original arrest warrant, the conversations started innocently enough but escalated into sexual comments quickly.
The original warrant states that Miller, who uses an alias on Facebook, asked the boy about his sexual preference. Miller told the boy he was bi-sexual in high school and was addicted to pornography.
When police confiscated Miller's computers, the priest admitted to texting and talking to the boy on Facebook but said that there was no actual contact.
Miller, according to the warrant, also told the boy on more than one occasion that he would like to perform sex acts on him and asked him to meet him, but the boy declined. The request to meet seems to have led to the boy to talk to his mother.
Attorney William St. John represents Miller, who is currently suspended from his church duties. Miller is due back in court July 9.
Child predators are very cunning and manipulative. They know every trick on how to groom, threaten, lie, and put the fear of god into their victims and sometimes even their family members. They also appear to do a lot of goods things, they can be very charismatic and you may think they would never harm a child. They have to be this way, in order to not get caught and to continue to abuse Sexual predators are often powerful and well-loved. It would be comforting if those who preyed on the vulnerable were obvious social misfits whose appearance would somehow set off alarm bells and give us ‘the willies’ or ‘the creeps.’ They rarely do. Usually, predators are among the last people we would suspect of sexually violating others. At a party, the predator isn’t some oddball sitting alone in a corner because others feel uncomfortable with him. Most often, the predator is the guy throwing the party. It is extremely rare that a child predator has only one victim. Hopefully if anyone has knowledge or may have been harmed by Father Michael Miller, they will contact the police. Also keep in mind your silence only hurts, and by speaking up there is a chance for healing, exposing the truth, and therefore protecting others. Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, 636-433-2511 snapjudy@gmail.com "Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests" and all clergy.
Travis Davis Curley 07'
I obviously respect what you have to say, but the guy we knew at Curley apparently wasn't the real Mike Miller. He's a sick man and, if in fact guilty, I hope he spends a significant portion of the remainder of his life in prison (which he could, child pornography is serious). This is not just a "flaw" or a "misstep." If these details are true, the man is a predator who used his position to gain access to children. Can't get much more pathetic than that. I would like to reiterate, however, that I firmly believe a person deserves his day in court. Pat Peluso Curley '07
These situations continue to reveal the sickening abuse of seemingly trusting relationships between children and adults. Praying for healing and strength for victims and families and hoping that their faith will remain despite the denial and/or ignorance of The Church and others who were/are involved. Lord, help us.
Steve Hood, Curley '99