An Oak Harbor man pleaded guilty to raping three young girls but continues to deny that he’s responsible, according to court documents.
As part of a plea bargain, Michael W. Miller, 55, pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court to three counts of child rape in the first degree.
The judge handed him an indeterminate sentence of 18 years to life in prison at a sentencing hearing Feb. 17. He has to serve a minimum of 18 years and then a review board will decide if he should be released.
Deputy Prosecutor Michael Safstrom said he met with two of the children and their families early on in the case, and all the victims had the opportunity to give input on the resolution. The family of one of the victims was present at sentencing and her older sister addressed the court on the victim’s behalf, he said.
A community corrections officer interviewed Miller for a pre-sentence investigation. Miller told the officer he didn’t rape the children and blamed his wife for committing the crimes. He also claimed his attorney lied to him, according to the pre-sentence investigation.
Miller raped, sodomized and molested three girls as young as 8 years old over a period of several years.
One of the girls told Miller’s wife about the abuse months before he was arrested, but the woman told the girl to keep it a secret, saying that her parents would be mad at her “for letting him do that to her,” the police report states.
The police report describes an incident in which Miller molested two young girls during a sleepover at his home. One of the girls cried as he was molesting her; the other girl held her friend’s hand “because she didn’t know what to do,” a detective wrote in a police report.
The day after Miller was arrested, the mother of a 7-year-old girl contacted police and said the girl disclosed being raped by Miller, the detective wrote.
Miller suffers from an epilepsy disorder and was diagnosed with a mood disorder and bipolar disorder, according to the pre-sentence investigation report. A mental-health expert examined Miller and found that he was not competent to stand trial, but his competency was restored through treatment at Western State Hospital.
Miller will have to register as a sex offender and be on community supervision for life if he’s released.
