Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
Court records show that the 80-year-old is facing 21 charges involving 10 complainants for offences that allegedly took place between 1994 and 2006. The charges include sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and sexual interference, as well as several offences related to procuring and prostitution.
Some of the alleged victims were minors at the time of the incidents. The names of all of the victims are protected by a publication ban and cannot be revealed.
Montreal police's Insp. David Shane announced at a news conference Thursday that the former head of Future Electronics Inc. was arrested in the afternoon at his home in Westmount and was released with conditions on a promise to appear in court on July 3.
"We'd like to underline the courage of the victims in this long ordeal," Shane said, adding that victims in the Miller case — or any sexual assault case — can call 514-280-8522 to file a report.
In February 2023, CBC/Radio Canada released a documentary that alleged Miller paid teenage girls for sex for more than a decade. The report alleged the tech executive, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, arranged for his associates to bring the minor girls to his Montreal hotel room, as well as his home in Westmount, to perform sexual acts between 1994 to 2006.
He has denied the allegations, and stepped down as the chairman and CEO of his company the day after the allegations surfaced.
In the days that followed, Montreal police publicly acknowledged that they had investigated Miller between 2008 and 2009 and then handed over the results of the probe to prosecutors. No charges were laid at the time.
On Thursday, police said that, at the time, the elements weren't there to secure a conviction, but did not go into specific details. Shane told reporters that new information had come to light in the past year that led investigators to reopen the investigation.
"We made a public call for … any victim or any witness to come forward because we were willing to reopen the case," he said at the news conference. "Based on some new information, some new people came forward who were able to further the case and be able to submit all of it to the Crown prosecutor."
He said the investigation is ongoing and that investigators are not ruling out arresting other suspects.
Miller is also a defendant in a proposed class-action lawsuit from women who alleged that they were paid for sex many years ago. Miller has also denied the allegations in the civil case, which is ongoing.
CTV News reached out to his lawyer in the civil case for a response to the criminal charges but have not yet heard back.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted in Ontario double homicide: DOJ
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
Ontario school board trustees under fire for $100K religious art purchase on Italy trip
Trustees with an Ontario school board are responding to criticism over a $45,000 trip to Italy, where they purchased more than $100,000 worth of religious statues.
A photographer snorkeled for hours to take this picture
Shane Gross, a Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, has won the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Tobacco giants would pay out $32.5 billion to provinces, smokers in proposed deal
Three tobacco giants are proposing to pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories and more than $4 billion to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and their loved ones as part of a corporate restructuring process triggered by a long-running legal battle.
More Trudeau cabinet ministers not running for re-election, sources say shuffle expected soon
Federal cabinet ministers Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough and Dan Vandal announced Thursday they will not run for re-election. Senior government sources tell CTV News at least one other, Marie-Claude Bibeau, doesn't plan to run again, setting the stage for Justin Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
Robert Pickton's handwritten book seized after his death in hopes of uncovering new evidence
A handwritten book was seized from B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton's prison cell following his death earlier this year, raising hopes of uncovering new evidence in a series of unprosecuted murders.
Former members of One Direction say they're 'completely devastated' by Liam Payne's death
The former members of English boy band One Direction reacted publicly to the sudden death of their bandmate, Liam Payne, for the first time on Thursday, saying in a joint statement that they're 'completely devastated.'
Israel says it has killed top Hamas leader Yayha Sinwar in Gaza
Israeli forces in Gaza killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year's attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel's most wanted man.
Indian government employee charged in foiled murder-for-hire plot in New York City
The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against an Indian government employee in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.