Former Columbus cop gets 10-plus years for
child pornography
A former Columbus police officer caught with
thousands of child-pornography images was sentenced yesterday to a little more
than 10 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley, who
handed down the 121-month sentence against Stewart A. Miller, 48, in federal
court, said he was troubled by Miller’s long history of viewing child
pornography and the escalation of his behavior over time.
Miller agreed to pay $7,500 in restitution to
one of the victims. Marbley also fined Miller $17,500 and ordered him to
undergo an evaluation and seek treatment for his sexual behavior.
Miller will be required to wear an electronic
monitoring ankle bracelet at his home until he does to prison and will be
required to register as a sex offender after his release.
“The court can contemplate very few crimes that
are worse than this,” Marbley said.
Miller’s wife turned over a thumb drive
containing the pornography and other evidence to the FBI. Marbley called Julie
Bowen-Miller a “hero” and wondered what would have happened had she not come
forward.
In court yesterday, she apologized to the
thousands of “little ones” harmed by her husband’s behavior and said she wished
she had been able to help them.
Bowen-Miller told Marbley she clearly didn’t
know the man she had married and wished she had found about his pornography
addiction sooner.
“I grieve the loss of what was my life and what
I had hoped would be my future,” she said.
The couple is going through divorce
proceedings.
Miller said he never meant to hurt his wife or
her family.
“It breaks my heart to see the pain and
destruction it has caused in her life,” he said.
Miller also apologized to his former fellow
officers for being such a “disgrace to the profession” and “causing the whole
child-pornography industry to continue” with his obsession.
Miller pleaded guilty in December to one count
of possessing child pornography, which requires a minimum sentence of five
years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather A. Hill said
the images and videos that Miller downloaded, viewed and shared involved real
children suffering real abuse.
“His actions contributed to the demand for
child pornography, which both perpetuates the abuse of existing victims and
leads to abuse of additional victims,” she said.
Hill had asked for at least a 10-year prison
sentence; Miller’s attorney had suggested a six-year term.
Hill told Marbley that Miller had “carefully
categorized” his child pornography files, which he had been downloading and
saving for at least 10 years when his wife discovered them and notified law
enforcement last year.
Miller had secretly videotaped two minors
engaging in sexual activity in his home and had apparently taken photographs
and made videos of young girls in bathing suits in Florida.
Mark C. Collins, Miller’s attorney, argued that
his client had never “acted out in any sexual nature toward children” and did
not distribute any child pornography. Collins called Miller a hoarder and said
that although he had thousands of images, it didn’t mean he went back to them
again and again.
Collins said Miller understands that what he
did was “horrific,” especially given the oath he had sworn to uphold the law,
but he couldn’t help himself and needs treatment.
Miller was a Columbus police officer for 23
years before he was placed on leave in the fall. He resigned in December.
“He hid his addiction to pornography from his
family, friends, co-workers — everyone,” Collins said.
epyle@dispatch.com
@EncarnitaPyle
