BishopAccountability.org
	New Molest Charges against Former L.A. Roman Catholic Priest Associated Press, carried in Union-Tribune July 24, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070724-1835-ca-churchabuse.html Los Angeles – A former Roman Catholic priest was arrested on child molestation charges Tuesday, five years after earlier sex abuse allegations were thrown out because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidating a California extension of the statute of limitations in such cases, prosecutors said. George Miller, 69, of Oxnard is accused of molesting a boy between March 1988 and March 1991 while he was assigned to Guardian Angel Church in Pacoima, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in statement. The arrest came about a week after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles reached a $660 million civil settlement of claims by more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse. "As promised, investigations are ongoing into alleged sexual abuse of minors by priests," District Attorney Steve Cooley said in announcing the arrest. Prosecutors said the boy was 5 years old when Miller met him. Miller befriended the victim's mother and became a frequent guest at the family's home, eventually taking the victim on overnight trips, prosecutors said. Miller was charged with three felony counts of lewd acts on a child and three counts of sodomy of a person under 14, and was held on $600,000 bail. He faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted of all charges. Arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday in San Fernando Superior Court. Miller's attorney, Steven Cron, did not immediately return a phone message left Tuesday seeking comment. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a support group for clergy abuse victims, praised the alleged victim. "We hope his courage inspires others to speak up, get help, and call law enforcement," SNAP spokeswoman Barbara Dorris said. Miller served in the Los Angeles archdiocese until he was placed on inactive leave in 1997 after being accused of sexual abuse, the archdiocese said in a statement. In 2002, he was arrested and charged with molesting three boys – including the current alleged victim's older brother – in the 1970s and 1980s while assigned to the Pacoima church. That case was dropped when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a California law extending the statute of limitations on sex crimes was unconstitutional. In its statement, the archdiocese detailed several complaints and suspicions leveled against Miller since 1977, when he denied written allegations of abuse and was retained by then-Cardinal Timothy Manning, who has since died. "Such a thing would not happen today," the statement said. Under current policy, sexual abuse allegations are to be reported to police and priests are put on administrative leave while authorities investigate, it said. The statement said that in 1989 another priest reported being uncomfortable with Miller's friendliness toward boys but no abuse was reported and Miller again denied wrongdoing. But after a 1996 sex abuse complaint, Cardinal Roger Mahony placed Miller on sick leave, sent him for psychiatric evaluation and put him on inactive leave. Miller was ultimately laicized in 2005.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.