Duane William Millar, a 59-year-old coach and teacher for Howell, Michigan Public Schools, has been charged for allegedly possessing child pornography. The charges were brought on a state level when the allegations initially came to light, the Ingham County Prosecutor has since recommended that the case be prosecuted on a federal level.
According to police, a 90 day investigation was conducted after the Michigan State Police received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Apparently NCMEC was given information by Google that a certain person’s social media account was involved in child sexually abusive activity (“kiddie porn”). All social media service providers are legally required to report any instances of child sexual exploitation to NCMEC.
Police officers arrived at Millar’s home in East Lansing and conducted a search, where they seized computers and other digital media. However, because the investigation is still underway, law enforcement is refusing to reveal how many items were taken from Millar’s home. The federal indictment later released stated that, according to the grand jury, Millar kept child pornography in an email account and also stored on computers and hard drives. Our criminal defense attorneys tell us that cases that are transferred from the state / county courts over to the federal courts, often involve hundreds or thousands of kiddie porn photos or videos.
Millar taught Spanish and was a track coach for many years with Howell Public Schools in Livingston County.
He was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, but he resigned as soon as the allegations came to light. According to the Michigan State Police, they are certain that no students at the school where Millar taught were in any way involved. Additionally, Millar did not use any school equipment or computers to download, store, or view the alleged child pornography.
The investigation involved the Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Unit, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office and the Lansing and East Lansing police departments. However, once the case was picked up by the feds, the investigation was assumed by Homeland Security working in conjunction with the Michigan State Police.
Millar was initially charged with single counts of Using a computer to commit a crime and Possession of child sexually abusive material in Ingham County’s 54B District Court in East Lansing. Since the case is now being prosecuted by the federal government, Millar is being charged with two counts of possession of child pornography. Under federal law, if convicted, he is facing up to 20 years in prison for each count.
Millar was arraigned on June 2nd in the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. He is currently out on bail having been granted an unsecured bond of $10,000. The attorneys at the Kronzek Firm remind our readers that, however terrible the allegations may be against someone, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. At this point, because Millar has not been convicted of a crime, he is innocent in the eyes of the law. If you believe in the Constitution of the United States, you believe in the presumption of innocence until the facts prove otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt.