Robert Miller, a 66-year-old head of the University of Connecticut (UConn)'s Music Department for four years has been accused for assaulting five boys in Virginia in 1992 and having sex with university students during his three-decade tenure at the school.
Last month, Miller, a music professor was placed on paid administrative leave. Currently, he is being investigated for sexual misconduct allegations with university students and child molestation over several years that include several boys who attended a camp for sick children. Miller hasn't been charged with any crime.
According to UConn officials and the state attorney general's office, even though the university authorities were informed several times between 2006 and 2011 about Miller's sexual conduct with children, the officials finally dealt with the issue of sexual assault claims this February.
The university took Miller's accusations seriously after an unnamed employee of the School of Fine Arts brought a letter to the attention of the new dean on February 2013. The letter dated December 2011 was sent to the department by an accuser in Virginia and claims that Miller was a paedophile.
The officials said that UConn police formally opened an investigation on Feb. 18 and contacted a state prosecutor the next day.
"Allegations involving crimes against children are both profoundly disturbing and heartbreaking," said Susan Herbst UConn President. "Any accusation of sexual misconduct by faculty, staff, or students is among the gravest issues that any institution must face. It is clear that serious accusations have been made, questions that demand answers have been raised, and we will do all we can to find the truth and protect the vulnerable."
The state attorney general's office said that last month, a student told a faculty member that Miller had sex with UConn students, visited freshmen dorms and offered drugs to students.
Meanwhile, the Connecticut state police and authorities in Fairfax County, Va., is also investigating Miller amid allegations that he molested five boys, aged from 10 to 13 years old, more than two decades ago.
According to the State police, four of the boys alleged that they were inappropriately touched at Miller's home in 1992. At the time, the boys were attending the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, a camp that actor Paul Newman established in 1988 for sick children.
The molestation occurred when Miller was a counselor of the camp from 1989 to 1992. He used to take the children often away from the camp on unofficial trips to his home for overnight stays. The boys stated that he would often make them remove their clothes, saying that he had to check them for ticks and bruises.
All the boys at the camp suffered from hemophilia, a bleeding disorder which does not allow the blood to clot normally.
State police said that Fairfax County police are also looking into accusations that Miller molested a 13-year-old boy while he was a teacher at the former Whittier Intermediate School near Falls Church in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Connecticut state police said they can't charge Miller in the child molestation investigation because the statute of limitations has expired, but it hasn't expired for the Virginia allegations.
