Feds: School counselor admits fondling boys

after-care school counselor who was fired from Plantation Middle School last month has confessed to trying to lure seven underage boys into sexual activity with him, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Miller told investigators he fondled the private parts of an underage boy at a bus stop, tried to get at least one boy to come to his home for sex and also tried to get some of the children to conceal what he was doing, authorities said.

Miller, 20, of Fort Lauderdale was fired from his job as a counselor or assistant for the HANDY program, which is operated by a private contractor at the school, after a 13-year-old boy reported that Miller was sending him extremely inappropriate sexual texts, investigators said.

Despite being fired and knowing he was under scrutiny by law enforcement, Miller contacted several of the underage children and “told them there was an investigation and he needed to be careful,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton said in court.

So far, Miller has been formally charged with three federal counts of trying to entice minors – a 13-year-old and two 14-year-olds – into engaging in sexual activity in February and March. The offense carries a potential punishment of ten years to life in federal imprisonment.

School officials immediately contacted law enforcement when the first boy reported Miller to them, prosecutors said.

Authorities said they believe there may be more victims and Miller could face additional charges. They declined to release the age of the boy who Miller said he fondled.

Miller pleaded not guilty to the three charges on Wednesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle ordered he will remain jailed while the case is pending because he is a potential danger to the community and might try to flee.

Handcuffed, shackled and dressed in bright blue jail scrubs, Miller stared down at his lap for much of the court hearing.

When Miller was arrested on April 26, he initially told investigators that he “was just kidding around” when he sent the messages and that he was confused about his sexuality, according to testimony from Plantation Police Detective Lee Bieber, who works on the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force.

But after a longer interview by agents at the FBI’s headquarters in Miramar, Miller handwrote and signed a confession, authorities said.

Miller told agents he was sexually attracted to underage boys, that he sent sexually-charged text messages to several minors, discussed masturbation with them and asked for photographs of their private parts, prosecutor Anton said.

Miller also told them details about how he had fondled one of the boys at a public bus stop and said he wrestled with underage boys for “sexual purposes,” Anton told the judge.

Miller “abused his position of trust” as a counselor or assistant at the afterschool program, which caters to “disadvantaged youth” who need help with their homework, as well as “social and emotional” counseling, Anton told the judge.

Officials from HANDY, which stands for Helping Abused Neglected DisadAn vantaged Youth, did not return phone messages and an email seeking comment. According to the organization’s website, it provides year-round programming for at-risk middle school students to help them develop academic and life skills and stay out of trouble.

Miller tricked the children into giving him their phone numbers by asking them to fill in a sign-up sheet if they were interested in playing football or basketball. There was no such sports program, officials said, and Miller used the information to send them inappropriate and graphic texts.

Miller also offered the children cash, gifts, shoes, clothing and a trip to Disney World if they would agree to have oral sex with him, investigators said.

“He violated their trust and innocence,” Anton said.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Spivack tried to convince the judge to release Miller on house arrest with an electronic monitor. Spivack said there was no evidence Miller used violence or threatened to retaliate against any of the boys.

Spivack said Miller had no prior interaction with police, questioned the validity of his confession and urged everyone to remember Miller is presumed innocent.

Judge Valle agreed Miller is entitled to the presumption that he is innocent but said there was substantial evidence and he will remain jailed while the defense does its own investigation: “The evidence clearly shows … that Mr. Miller poses a danger to underage children.”