article: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/07/25/Former-cop-child-pornography-sentence.html
A former Columbus police officer caught with thousands of child pornography images was sentenced to just over 10 years in prison today.
U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley handed down the 121-month sentence against Stewart A. Miller, 48, in federal court, saying he was troubled by Miller’s long history of viewing child pornography and that his actions seemed to escalate 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. He will also 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.
He pleaded guilty in December to one count of possessing child pornography. That requires a minimum sentence of five years in prison.
“The images and videos that the defendant downloaded, viewed and shared involved real children suffering real abuse,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather A. Hill in a sentencing memorandum. “His actions contributed to the demand for child pornography, which both perpetuates of the abuse of existing victims and leads to abuse of additional victims.”
Hill had asked for at least a 10-year prison sentence; Miller’s attorney had suggested a 6-year prison term.
Hill wrote 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 also had secretly videotaped two minors having sexual activity in his home and had apparently taken photographs and made videos of young girls in bathing suits in Florida, the memorandum said.
“His efforts to create sexually stimulating images of his own all indicate that he has a deeply-entrenched and deviant interest in children,” Hill wrote. “The defendant poses a significant danger to the public.”
Mark C. Collins, Stewart’s attorney, argued in court documents that his client had never “ acted out in any sexual nature towards children” and did not distribute or produce any child pornography.
Miller was a Columbus police officer for 23 years before he was placed on leave last fall and then resigned in December.