Dowagiac man sentenced to prison for sexual assault

Before facing the wrath of the criminal justice system, Dowagiac's Lee Roy Miller Jr. was confronted in Cass County court Friday by a woman who once trusted him to care for her children.

Reading from a statement she had written before coming to Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman's courtroom that morning, the mother described how Miller's sexual abuse of her 15-year-old daughter devastated the teenager's life, turning her from a straight-A student to someone who now lives in fear of what could happen to her next.

"You took something from my oldest daughter she can never get back," the mother said. "She now suffers from trust issues, relationship issues, stress, anxiety, depression. She is now failing in classes at school."

Miller will now have plenty of time to reflect on those consequences as he spends the next 15 years behind bars.

Judge Herman sentenced the 35-year-old Dowagiac man to a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 25 years in prison Friday, on a single count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Miller pleaded guilty to the charge on Dec. 2.

Miller had abused his victim, a 15-year-old living with him at the time at his residence on Railroad Street, at some point between May 20 and June 23, 2016.

According to the judge, the victim's mother found him abusing her daughter and went to call the police. When Miller asked the woman why she was reporting him, she responded by telling him to, "Get the **** out," Herman said.

"You should consider yourself lucky she didn't kill you on the spot," Herman said, addressing the defendant in court Friday. "It is hard for the court to imagine a greater violation of their trust."

Although the defendant only admitted to sexually abusing the victim on one occasion, Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz said Miller had been grooming the girl since she was 10, saying she was "his sexual possession for many years."

"She [the victim] will go on to do some wonderful things in her life, but these memories will never leave her," Fitz said. "This is what the defendant has bestowed upon someone he was entrusted with. Instead of keeping that trust, he was a betrayer."

When asked by the judge for comment, Miller responded by saying he was sorry for what he had put the victim and her family through, and that words alone cannot fix what he did.

Herman deviated above the state recommended guidelines for Miller's sentence, as the fact he abused someone living in his household constituted an aggravating circumstance, he said.

"You have destroyed multiple lives through your actions - including your own," Herman said.

Miller was given credit for 229 days credit for time already served.