Councilor Jeff Miller May Not (Willingly) Leave the Indianapolis Council After All

Last week came the shocking news of the filing of child molestation charges against Republican Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jeff Miller who represents a center township-downtown district that includes IUPUI, the Zoo area and Fountain Square.  According to the charging affidavits, Miller liked to give 10 year old children massages at his home.  It is unclear how far his hands went on those massages.  Nonetheless, it is not a good idea to give 10 year old children, especially ones to whom you are not related, massages.

Indianapolis Councilor Jeff Miller

Miller did not help himself by talking to investigators and saying he would confirm anything the children said he had done to them.  Of course in these types of cases, it is easy to coach children to say certain things (ask the defendants in the McMartin case) which is why investigators need to strictly adhere to certain protocol so false allegations are not manufactured.  A good defense attorney knows this is a fertile area upon which to mount a defense.  Miller's stated intention to endorse anything the children said happened may have given that away.

One thing that is concerning about the charging affidavit is the inclusion of purely salacious comments about Miller's personal habits which have nothing to do with the charges, but which appear more at publicly humiliating the councilor.  One can only surmise that the inclusion of this evidence was to humiliate Miller into pleading guilty and resigning his highly-competitive seat.  It is just not an ethical thing to do.  I should point out that Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry is a Democrat who campaigned for Miller's opponent.  In the past, Prosecutor Curry has shown questionable ethics on how he he resolved the Omnisource criminal investigation and his use (and expansion) of civil forfeiture.  Curry has ran roughshod over civil liberties in this county.  Yet local Democrats don't seem to care because he has a "D" on his jersey.  Miller's attorney is very right to ask for the appointment of a special prosecutor to try his case.

Let me be clear.  I am no fan of Jeff Miller.  He is the worst kind of Republican.  During the term of Greg Ballard, Miller supported every one of the Mayor's proposed 40 plus tax and fee increases has well as every corporate welfare scheme the Ballard people could cook up.  There is nothing remotely "Republican" or "conservative" about Jeff Miller.  He is a big taxing, big spending liberal.

But you have to ask yourself why would Miller resign now?  He gets nothing out of it. The bargaining chip of his resignation from the council (which would likely be part of a plea deal) is thrown away while getting nothing in return.

And looking at the climate in today's Republican Party, one has to wonder if giving non-sexual massages to 10 year old children (assuming Miller is accurately describing those massages) is a disqualifier for the GOP.  On the infamous Access Hollywood video, Donald Trump gloated that his fame allowed him to sexually assault women.  Then some dozen women stepped forward to confirm in detail how Trump had done to them exactly what he described in the video.  Yet Trump went on to became President.  Then you have the case of Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore who,  in the light best to him, dated 16 and 17 year old children as a 30 year old man, an action which while technically legal, still makes him the worst sort of creep.   In the worst light, one of those children was actually 14 years old and thus under the age of consent in Alabama (16).  As an adult, she now accuses Moore of actions that would make him a child molester.    As a side note, some mistakenly call those allegations pedophilia.  Actually pedophilia is a party type of child molestation that involves children who have not yet started puberty.  A 14 year old is outside that window.  Still molestation.  Just not pedophilia.

I would be remiss if I failed to point out that the Democrats have their own share of sexual predators.  At the top of the list is former President Bill Clinton.  There isn't a dime's bit of difference between Clinton and Trump when it comes to their treatment of women.

My guess is Miller will still resign. But my guess is his defense attorney told him not to give away that bargaining chip until the criminal charges against him are resolved.