A 27-year-old registered sex offender who had trouble finding a place to live in Oak Harbor was sent to prison because he couldn’t comply with a court order to complete and pay for sex-offender treatment.
Christopher Miller pleaded guilty last year to rape of a child in the first degree. He confessed to sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl on multiple occasions while babysitting her, according to court documents.
Miller told police that he had been sexually assaulted as a teenager and wanted to get help for his problem.
Because Miller had no other criminal history, admitted to the crime and expressed a willingness to enter treatment, he was originally sentenced under the Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative, commonly known as a SSOSA.
The sentencing alternative can be granted in lieu of a prison sentence under certain conditions, but requires some jail time, sex-offender treatment and supervision.
After serving a year in jail, Miller was released to find that his father’s trailer park wouldn’t allow him to live with his father because of his registered sex offender status. A friend offered to let him stay at her apartment, but the apartment management refused to let him stay.
Miller found another friend to stay with in February, though the trailer park manager said it was temporary. He had to sleep on the floor of the trailer, which has a broken shower and a toilet that barely flushes.
Miller was unable to find a job, though he attended classes at Work Source and applied for services from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Without a job, he wasn’t able to pay for the treatment he was ordered to receive.
As a result, the prosecutor’s office and the Department of Correction recommended that Miller’s SSOSA be revoked. Judge Alan Hancock agreed during a May 8 hearing.
That means Miller will have to serve the sentence which was suspended under the SSOSA, which was an indeterminate sentence of seven years and nine months to life in prison.
He’ll get credit for the year he already spent in jail. He will receive treatment in prison, if he’s willing.
