Some parents in Ohio’s Lakota Local Schools reportedly remain concerned after the school board determined Superintendent Matt Miller engaged in no wrongdoing following an investigation into documents alleging he admitted to having sexual fantasies involving children, Libs of TikTok reported Wednesday.
According to the report, Lakota parent Vanessa Wells filed a police report with the sheriff’s office on August 8 against Miller, who oversees the second-largest school district in the state in Butler County, with approximately 17,200 students.
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Wells had provided police with text messages between Miller and his ex-wife that allege the superintendent acknowledged his sexual fantasies about minors.
Libs of TikTok reported:
Two days later during an interview with detectives, Miller’s ex-wife alleged that her ex-husband used to traffick her to other men through Craigslist posts, had sent her child pornography via email and text, and asked her to molest children in the school district, even her own son.
“When detectives interviewed the superintendent he did not deny the allegations,” the report added. “Instead, Miller passed the blame to his ex-wife. The investigative report states Miller said that he and his ex-wife would ‘role-play’ and engage in ‘pillow talk,’ which on at least one occasion included a discussion of drugging, molesting, and recording three kids.”
However, during the months-long controversy surrounding the allegations against Miller, who was subsequently investigated not only by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, but also a private investigation firm, the accusations against the superintendent were found to be of a non-criminal nature, the Journal-News reported in November.
The report of the private investigation firm states, “there is no evidence that Matt Miller used a work device to arrange, facilitate or view any sexual activity,” the news report noted.
Miller agreed to undergo a “fitness for duty” evaluation, which, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer in a report on November 22, he passed.
While most members of the school board voted to accept the statement of results of both the “fitness for duty” evaluation and the investigation into the allegations, found to be false, board member Darbi Boddy voted against the statement.
In November, Board President Lynda O’Connor and several other board members said it was time to move on from the controversy over Miller to other issues, such as student achievement.
The Enquirer report observed, however, that, to secure the end to “further spread of false allegations against the district leader, or any school district employees,” the school board restricted the public comment portion of its public meetings.
As Libs of TikTok reported, a local resident filed a lawsuit against the school board, arguing restricting citizens’ free speech is unconstitutional.
“Siding with parents, a federal judge ordered the Lakota Schools Board to reinstate the public comment period at its next meeting as tensions continued to boil over the controversy involving Superintendent Miller,” the report observed.
“While we understand that some members of our community may disagree, the board is confident that it exercised all due diligence in this matter,” O’Connor said, according to Fox 19 News.
“These claims against Mr. Miller were found to be false by multiple agencies,” O’Connor stated. “These claims appear to have been a personally motivated attack and would not have been brought if he were not the superintendent.”
O’Connor continued that the board is in full support of Miller, describing him as an “excellent leader” and “one of the shining lights in education, both in Ohio and nationally.”
Boddy, however, disagreed.
“Our community is not proud of our superintendent,” she said.
Addressing Miller, she said, “The fact remains that you do not have the ethics that are wanted in a superintendent of Lakota.”
O’Connor’s attorney advised him not to respond to Boddy’s claims, but, when she repeated the statements from the sheriff’s investigation report about “pillow talk” and sexual fantasies between Miller and his ex-wife, Miller reportedly said, “It’s taken out of context.”
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Matt Miller” by Lakota Local Schools.
