Man jailed for sex with student

Ex-ROTC instructor must also report address for 25 years as a convicted sex offender

A former North Penn High School ROTC instructor and onetime U.S. Air Force major is on his way to jail after he admitted to having sexual contact with a female student.

Mark Alan Miller, 46, of the first block of Brittany Lane, Glenmoore, Chester County, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Friday to six to 12 months in the county jail, to be followed by four years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of sexual contact with a student in connection with incidents that occurred between November and December 2016.

Judge Wendy G. Rothstein said Miller also must report his address to state police for 25 years as a convicted sex offender. The judge said a lesser sentence would depreciate the seriousness of the crime and she rejected a defense request for probation.

“You abused your position of authority and power. As her teacher, you were there to educate her, not abuse her. You’re highly educated and should have known better. You caused significant pain to the victim,” Rothstein addressed Miller, who was known to students as “Major Miller.”

Miller, who had several advanced degrees, apologized to the victim, his family and the North Penn High School community.

“I made a horrendous decision. It was the worst decision of my life. I do wish I could go back and change it, I really do,” Miller said before learning his fate.

In a letter read in court, the victim expressed that she still suffers bouts of sadness.

“I also have panic attacks during which I have flashbacks, which cause migraines and increased my depression,” the victim wrote. “I feel like that in this selfish world you see people are willing to do whatever they can to get what they want.”

The judge called the young

woman “courageous.”

“You deserve better. Please don’t let this define you. You have a lot to live for,” Rothstein addressed the victim, who wept at times during the hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Alexandria MacMaster sought a jail term for Miller.

“This was not a slip in judgment. It involved grooming by someone who was a mentor. He pursued her. He groomed her in a way that brought deep shame to this girl that she did not deserve. We cannot take away the fact that this was intentional, systematic,” MacMaster argued.

Defense lawyer Lloyd Long sought leniency, in the form of probation, for Miller, explaining Miller served his country in the U.S. Air Force, spent time in an Iraqi war zone and retired as a major.

“All of a sudden something changed. Mr. Miller came back a very different person,” said Long, adding Miller suffers from PTSD and a neurological disorder that requires him to wear leg braces and use a cane.

Miller, Long said, accepted full responsibility for his conduct.

“He has to live with the shame. This incident is going to define him. That is punishment. He lost his good name. That is punishment,” Long argued.

An investigation began on Dec. 15, 2016, when North Penn High School administrators contacted Towamencin police to report they received information from school students that Miller, the Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) senior coordinator, had been involved in sexual relations with a student who was a member of the school’s ROTC unit, according to the criminal complaint.

During the investigation, detectives spoke to the 18-year-old female student, who said she had consensual sexual intercourse with Miller in the back of his Toyota Prius while they were returning from an ROTC-related event in the Valley Forge area on Nov. 12, 2016, according to a criminal complaint filed by Towamencin Detective Michael Paul.

The victim told detectives she had sexual intercourse with Miller on two other occasions between November and December. The three sexual encounters occurred while the two were in the Lansdale Business Park or at a hotel on Sumneytown Pike in Towamencin, according court documents.

Detectives obtained surveillance footage and business records from the Towamencin hotel where the victim said that she and Miller engaged in sexual intercourse on one of the occasions, and evidence showed that Miller had checked into a room on that date and both he and the victim were observed on hotel cameras, according to the arrest affidavit.

Court documents indicate that during the investigation another female student told detectives that Miller had pursued her since the beginning of the school year in 2016. Miller allegedly told that student that he was getting a divorce and that he wanted to have a relationship with her and spoke of having children together.

However, the second student told investigators that she never had sexual relations with Miller and ended their “close relationship” to avoid future issues. The girl told detectives she later found out in mid-December that Miller had “started a sexual relationship with the victim,” according to the criminal complaint.

“Each statement gathered during this investigation provided a consistent fact pattern that Major Mark Miller had been apparently engaging in sexually explicit behaviors while employed as a teacher,” Paul wrote in the arrest affidavit. “Mark Miller, being an employee of a school district who has direct contact with students, engaged in sexual intercourse and indecent contact with a student, the victim.”

At the time of Miller’s arrest in January 2017, North Penn School District spokeswoman Christine Liberaski said that Miller, who was hired in 2013 as a military science instructor for the Air Force JROTC Program at the high school, submitted his letter of resignation on Dec. 15, the same day high school officials contacted police about the matter.

“Charges such as these against Miller are contrary to the core values that educators hold true and will never be tolerated in the North Penn School District,” school officials said in a statement at the time. “As always, North Penn High School has the staff and resources in place for students who may need extra support during this time. Student safety is a top priority of the North Penn School District. Students are commended for reporting and acting upon this serious issue.”

“This was not a slip in judgment. It involved grooming by someone who was a mentor. He pursued her. He groomed her in a way that brought deep shame to this girl that she did not deserve. We cannot take away the fact that this was intentional, systematic.” — Assistant District Attorney Alexandria MacMaster