A former Loveland police officer who was arrested in November on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor while he was still on the force now faces a federal charge of assaulting his alleged victim while on duty, according to an indictment made public Monday.
Dylan Miller, 28, could face life in prison if convicted on the federal charge.
The grand jury indictment, unsealed Monday, charges that Miller “willfully deprived Minor #1 of liberty without due process of law, which includes the fundamental right to bodily integrity, a right secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States…”
Miller, who was hired by the Loveland Police Department less than two years ago, is already facing charges of kidnapping, sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer, sexual assault, official oppression and misconduct after a 15-year-old girl came forward in October concerning the Aug. 4 incident.
According to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, Miller first contacted the girl and several other people during a traffic stop in late July. Several days later, the girl and another person were at a Loveland park when Miller contacted them, told the other person to leave and made the girl walk with him to a secluded area, where he assaulted her.
The girl reported the assault to police on Oct. 23, and Miller was placed on administrative leave when he reported for his next shift on Oct. 27. He was fired the same day he was arrested — Nov. 6.
“People who victimize children deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Chief Tim Doran said at the time of Miller’s arrest. “Anyone who uses their badge to do so is a disgrace to this profession and should be rooted out.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the FBI Denver Field Office announced the federal charge in the case Monday.
This isn’t the first time a Colorado law enforcement officer accused of wrongdoing was charged both at the state and federal level. In 2018, ex-Westminster officer Curtis Lee Arganbright was sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years of probation after being convicted of unlawful sexual contact and official misconduct after he sexually assaulted a drunk woman he was giving a ride home from a hospital.
More than two years later, he was sentenced on a federal civil rights charge to six years in prison in a decision the judge said he hoped would send a message to police officers that they are not above the law.
“I believe a slap-on-the-wrist sentence will be viewed among the small percentage of the law enforcement community who might be predisposed to engage in such assaults as a green light to do so,” U.S. District Court Judge William Martinez said at that 2021 hearing. “…At least this federal judge will not be party to any such message.”
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