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Professor investigated for alleged child sex abuse dating back decades

Posted at 4:48 PM, Jul 16, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-16 16:48:41-04

By Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, CNN

(CNN) — A University of Connecticut professor is under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct and child molestation dating back decades and involving several men, authorities say.

In a search warrant request issued in June, five men accuse Robert Miller, 66, a professor in UConn’s music department who’s been on the faculty since 1982, of sexually abusing them when they were between the ages of 10 and 13. Miller is on paid administrative leave, though no charges have been filed.

“Allegations involving crimes against children are both profoundly disturbing and heartbreaking,” UConn President Susan Herbst said in a statement posted on the university’s website.

“Although these allegations, which have been made public, appear to be unrelated to UConn, the university continues to do all it can to assist law enforcement.”

In the warrant request, the men say Miller abused four of them at his home in 1992, when he worked as a camp counselor, and one of them in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Miller was a teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia. The request was filed in Rockville Superior Court.

Miller’s UConn faculty profile says he was the director of volunteer programs for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, Connecticut, from 1989 to 1992.

The camp was founded in 1988 by actor Paul Newman for children with cancer, hemophilia, HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses, the camp’s website says.

The camp removed Miller from his position in 1992 when it was made aware of an incident involving the alleged victims, according to the warrant request.

“When the current investigation began several months ago, it was unclear whether the matter was reported to the appropriate authorities at that time,” Ryan Thompson, senior development officer at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, said in a prepared statement.

“Therefore, the Camp immediately made a report to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and has continued to cooperate fully with authorities.”

The investigation was launched earlier this year, according to the search warrant request, after UConn officials received word from one of the alleged victims that Miller was “a pedophile.” University police notified Connecticut state police of the allegation, and the investigation was opened in March.

Herbst added that the university is investigating “unsubstantiated” reports regarding Miller and UConn students.

Miller did not answer calls at his residence or office Tuesday.

Lt. Paul Vance, a Connecticut State Police spokesman, says his agency cannot comment on an open investigation.