“Pembroke priest arrested and charged” and comments

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The Pembroke Daily Observer

29 February 2012

By ANTHONY?DIXON editor@thedailyobserver.ca

RENFREW – Father Daniel M. Miller, 67, a priest of the Diocese of Pembroke, has been arrested and charged by members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Renfrew County Crime Unit with sexual assault offences dating back several decades.

According to the OPP, the offences occurred against, then pre-teenage boys and an adult male, between 1970 and 1980.

Rev. Miller was arrested on Feb. 29, 2012 and charged with three counts of gross indecency and three counts of indecent assault against a male.

He has been released from custody on a promise to appear and officer-in-charge undertaking. He is scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Renfrew on March 28, 2012.

The investigation is continuing under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch.

The Daily Observer attempted to contact the OPP?for more information but calls and emails were not returned by press time.

A news release issued on behalf of the Diocese of Pembroke Wednesday night stated that Rev. Miller has not been participating in public ministry for over a decade. He has been living in Pembroke.

Rev. Miller was ordained in Renfrew in 1969 and served briefly in Eganville, with other positions in Arnprior, Deep River and Petawawa, prior to 1999.

“The Diocese of Pembroke prays that the truth concerning this matter may be brought to light and extends support to any parties concerned in this case,” said the Most Reverend Michael Mulhall, the Bishop of Pembroke, in an email statement.

The release stated that the “…Diocese of Pembroke will continue to offer its complete cooperation with civil officials as the process unfolds and will encourage and support the healing process for all parties concerned following the resolution of the case.”

The investigation is continuing under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact the Renfrew County OPP Crime Unit at 613-432-3211 or 1-888-310-1122.

Anthony Dixon is The Daily Observer’s news editor

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Comments on this Article.

This is just totally sad and gut-wrenching news. Are these very old cases brought up nowadays due to settlement money or truly 100% to seek justice? There is just something wrong with the whole picture and perhaps a 15 or 20-year limitation should be put on this stuff in this day and age. There’s been plenty of time for a real victim to press charges and move on if it was so devastating for them at the time.
Post #1 By newcomer
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Wrong is wrong, the ones who are in a position of authority and control have ultimate responsibility to those under them and should be held accountable not matter how much time has passed. To distract and dismiss those victimized by insinuating that they have brought this on themselves or that they have secondary gain from coming forward, sets the wrong tone in having accountability for anyone who has harmed a child. If a child is vulnerable it should be those in the position of authority who protect the child and not exploit this vulnerability for their own sexual pleasure, otherwise all our children are open game for every pedophile and pervert around, is this the society we want.
Post #2 By PembrokeGuy
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In response to ‘newcomer’s’ comment:
Perhaps the parents of some of the sexually assaulted children went to the Bishop when it happened and he covered it up. Pedophile priests and those who knew and covered their crimes will be what brings down the Catholic Church. And considering the character of many of their priests, perhaps it needs to be brought down.
The fact that this priest was taken out of his parish more than ten years ago proves that the church KNEW he had done something and did not report the crimes to the police. They need to be charged too.
Post #3 By Me Too!
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Child molestation dates way back, and back in the day it was shamefull, and nobody wanted to believe a member of the family or the church would do such a thing. People are more accepting today and do believe that such a trusting or prominent person in our community could do such a harmfull thing to a child. Its not a matter of money, its finally admitting and dealing with such trauma. For some people the solution has been drugs or alcohol. With the help of some counselling they can now come forward and be able to move past this. How dare anybody judge something so traumatic, and try to minimize the effect it might have on another person. I was totally disappointed when I heard about Father Borne, but there was no denying that it happened and he was wrong in doing so. Doesn’t matter how much time has past. Would Newcomer maybe like to send one of there children to Sunday school with this priest.

Post #4 By jailstheword,

4 Responses to “Pembroke priest arrested and charged” and comments

  1. Bernie Buechman says:

    I was just reading the comment by Newcomer and I would like to ask that person what about past war criminals or cold cases should we put a timeline on those cases as well.A Act of Crime is A Act of Crime!Or should we tell all the murderers they are now safe from persecution as there 20 year time limit is done.Get Real I am curious about one thing One has to wonder how many former priests which are no longer alive were also sexual Predators.It is easy for one to sit back and to Question why now after all those years,we are not that person or that family.

  2. Larry Green says:

    It’s a haunting question Bernie!

  3. ottawavalleygirl says:

    There should be absolutely no statute of limitations when it comes to justice. The passage of time doesn’t lessen the horror that the victims endured. Daniel Millar, and every single person who enabled him and who allowed him to carry on abusing children for countless years need to be held accountable. I am angry, but my anger is not directed at Daniel Millar. I am angry at all of Daniel Millar’s superiors who must have been aware of his pedophile nature at some point over the course of his career. In countless cases of this nature, we hear of ‘good Catholic’ parents who took their concerns to the Bishop and the allegations were swept under the carpet with the promise that the Bishop would make the situation right. Daniel Millar needs to be brought to justice for his crimes. But we have bigger fish to fry here. We need the people who have allowed these pedophile priests to have access to our children for countless decades pay for THEIR part in these horrific crimes. The jail time needs to start with Mr. Ratzinger.

  4. Sylvia says:

    We are all entitled to express anger and frustration, and we are entitled to express our opinions, and we can have our thoughts as to whether or not the allegations are true, but we can not convict Father Daniel Miller. He has been charged. At this point, for legal reasons, we can not pronounce guilt until guilt has been proven in a court of law. I ask everyone to take care as to how you frame your comments. You can say you think someone is guilty, or that you believe that he is guilty, but you can’t say that he IS guilty.

    And yes, ottawavalleygirl, it is time to prosecute those who allowed these horrific crimes to continue and in so doing willfully placed children at risk and in harm’s way. A first and giant step has been taken in that regard with the prosecution of Msgr. William Lynn in Philadlphia.

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