Trumbull County Amish Man Sentenced to Life in Prison
A 47-year-old West Farmington man who is a member of the Amish community was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for committing at…
A 47-year-old West Farmington man who is a member of the Amish community was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for committing at least 17 sex crimes against seven girls age 4 to 14, including five counts of rape.
Daniel Miller will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years. The crimes, which also included 11 counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of sexual battery, occurred from 2000 to July 2012.
“My office and myself, assuming I’m still here, will always object to his release under all circumstances,” Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Gabe Wildman told the Geauga County Maple Leaf Tuesday.
“I’ve been dealing with sex crimes and crimes against women and kids for six or seven years and I’ve never had a case with even close to seven victims, and I’ve prosecuted some pretty serious pedophiles and I’ve never had a case with this scale of hands-on offenses,” he said. “The seven or eight here, that’s a profound number.”
None of the victims were from Geauga County, added Wildman. Three of the victims were Miller’s own children, two formerly were Amish and two were non-Amish.
Miller — who originally pleaded not guilty to the charges, but ultimately pleaded guilty — did not give a mitigating statement during his sentencing hearing before Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Peter Kontos, nor did his attorney, Trumbull County Public Defender Alan Matavich, or anyone from the Amish community speak on his behalf, Wildman said.
Wildman said he read impact statements of the two non-Amish girls and their mother. He told the Maple Leaf the girls’ parents were divorced and, at the time of the molestations, their mother was working a 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, with mandatory overtime.
“She would wake the girls up at 2:45 a.m or whatever and take them over to the Millers, where they would then kind of sleep and then they would catch the bus,” Wildman told the Maple Leaf. “And that’s sort of Daniel’s MO (modus operandi). Daniel’s MO is he preys on sleeping children; he waits until they’re sleeping and then he obviously tries to touch (their privates) and do other horrible things.”
The 7-year-old, who is now 21, said she and her sister became close to the Millers, but that all changed one night, after Miller had molested her, Wildman told the court, reading from her statement.
“When I grew up and actually realized what Dan had done to me, he took something away from me that I feel like I’ll never be able to get back. He took away my childhood and my ability to trust people,” the woman said in her statement.
She said she coped with the trauma by using drugs and then overcame that through treatment, but still deals with anxiety and depression, Wildman said.
The younger sister, now 17, wrote she thought about telling her mother about the assaults when she was small, but couldn’t.
“How is a 4- or 5-year-old supposed to tell their mom that?” she said in her statement.
“But it took me until now to under-stand that it was never my fault. Dan Miller is a sick person with problems I will never understand, or want to, for that matter.”
The teenager said she feared having to face Miller.
“But now, I’m so glad I’m here to be able to look him in the eyes and let him know that I’m not scared of him any-more,” she said.
She added, “I’m in charge now. I think Dan Miller should spend the rest of his life in prison for what he has done.”
Wildman told the Maple Leaf that Trumbull County Children Services was investigating a different case when they learned about the sexual assaults.
“There was a report made concerning an unrelated allegation of some kind of juvenile misconduct that sort of wasn’t a big deal,” Wildman said, adding while children services were discussing that report with one of the formerly Amish girls when they learned about Miller’s abuse of her.
“Children Services then opens a case and, as they start digging, these kids just start coming forward, left and right,” he said.
Members of Miller’s own family also came forward with allegations against him and in January 2013, a grand jury indicted Miller for rape and other sexual assauts against five girls ages 11 to 14 from 2009 to July 2012, Wildman said.
When those allegations became public and went on the news, the two non-Amish girls came forward.
They told investigators Miller had raped and sexually assaulted them at his home in 2000 and 2001 when they were only 4 and 7 years old.
Wildman said reaction to the charges in the Amish community was mixed.
“There are different factions in every community,” he said Tuesday. “There is a natural instinct among the Amish to handle things internally, so I think there was that struggle. There were also some people who were very helpful with us.”
Wildman added it is a felony not to report child abuse, especially on this scale, and after speaking with some elders in the local Amish community, he thinks they understand their obligations.
“I think initially they thought they’d met their obligations. I really do think there was good faith on their part, but they hadn’t,” Wildman said. “I think they understand their obligations now. It was something where we were able to open up the lines of communication so they know what the appropriate channels are, whether they like it or not.”
Pennsylvania State Police arrested Miller in January at Whispering Hope, an inpatient treatment facility in Newville, Pa., for Amish and Mennonite men needing counseling for marriage or other mental health issues.
The Amish community had sent Miller to Whispering Hope after the charges came to light, Wildman said.
“I think it’s fair to say that everyone who encountered this case was disgusted with Mr. Miller and his actions,” Wildman said.
