LOGAN — A 47-year-old Hyrum man has admitted to grooming a teenage girl to have an ongoing sexual relationship with him from 2009 to 2013. Ernest “Ernie” G. Miller accepted a plea deal hours before his weeklong trial was set to begin.
Court records show, jury selection was scheduled to start for Miller’s trial Wednesday, Nov. 13 in Logan’s 1st District Court. Instead, he pleaded guilty to rape of a child, a first-degree felony; sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony; and unlawful sexual activity with a 16 or 17 year old, a third-degree felony.
According to prosecutors, Logan City Police officers began investigating Miller after the victim reported being sexually abused for years from the time she was 12-years-old into adulthood. The girl was more than 19 years younger than the defendant, who was described as a family friend.
The woman described multiple times she was groped, molested and later raped by Miller. She said that she was originally very nervous because she had a crush on the defendant.
As the incidents continued, the girl became pregnant when she was 17-years-old. The victim said Miller knew about this and drove her to Salt Lake City to have an abortion. Medical records were later obtained and confirmed the procedure.
In addition, the woman who was then 24-year-old, told officers how Miller would take sexually explicit photographs and videos of her while she was still underage. She explained how he would do this on his cellphones that he kept locked in a safe at his business.
As part of their investigation, officers interviewed several of the victim’s family members and friends. They corroborated her story, explaining that she spent a lot of time with Miller and became “weird” in high school, avoiding relationships with other males her age.
In 2021, police obtained a search warrant and took Miller into custody. They reportedly located several cellphones inside a safe as the victim had described. He was booked into the Cache County Jail and later released on $50,000 bail.
Miller’s case has been pending for more than three years as attorneys negotiated the plea resolution. It had been scheduled for trial several times.
According to court records, in exchange for Miller’s guilty plea, 17 remaining charges were dismissed. Prosecutors will also recommend a prison sentence of up to five years, followed by four years of probation, along with $10,000 in restitution.
A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled yet but will likely take place in the first of 2025.