FBI: Melvindale house hid father-son porn ring's secrets

What started out as a drug raid has evolved into a disturbing case in federal court in which a father and son are accused of child pornography in a sordid tale that involves sex toys, hidden passageways and stuffed animals wearing underwear and lingerie in the father's house in Melvindale.

Charles Miller, 59, and Arthur Miller, 31, are charged in the case, although the FBI, didn't make the father-son connection right away.

First, they arrested the dad. Two years later, they got the son after he initially cooperated with police by providing evidence against his father.

Arthur Miller, who lives in Romulus, was ordered jailed Monday on charges of possession of child pornography after a federal judge concluded he was a danger to society. He could be imprisoned for up to 10 years if convicted.

His father pleaded guilty in January to manufacturing and possessing child pornography after police discovered a hidden studio in his house on Harman Street in Melvindale in 2013. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July in U.S. District Court in Detroit and faces up to 50 years in prison.

The case began unfolding in 2013 when local police, executing a search warrant at the Melvindale house for guns and drugs, stumbled across a digital camera, turned it on and saw nude photos of two local girls, ages 7 and 10, according to court documents.

But there was more. Police also found numerous sexually explicit videos containing young girls in Miller's house.

The house, the records show, was designed to keep this all secret.

According to court documents: Miller's house contained an extensive surveillance system, including dozens of closed-circuit cameras and multiple viewing screens; a semi-hidden surveillance room under the staircase; guns stashed in a hidden mirrored closet; a second-floor bedroom decorated for little girls, painted green and purple, with numerous stuffed animals, some wearing girl's underwear or adult female lingerie; boxes containing condoms, sex "toys," restraints, a mask and a leash.

What transpired after that initial raid was a lengthy criminal investigation that eventually led authorities to Miller's son.

Charles Miller's lawyer, Penny Beardslee, declined comment. His son's lawyer, Michael McCarty, could not be reached for comment.

According to court documents, here's how the case unfolded:

On Oct. 2, 2013, Lincoln Park police raided Miller's home after getting tips that Miller was selling prescription drugs out of his house, and that he also stored numerous guns there. During the raid, an officer found the camera. In some photos on the camera, the girls were seen nude in a shower.

Police were able to identify the girls after locating their mother, who told them that her daughters occasionally spent weekends at Miller's home, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Karl Haws. Miller had lived alone in the house for at least one year.

Police also interviewed the girls, who provided detailed accounts of being posed and coached by Miller, records show.

In late 2013, Miller was indicted in U.S. District Court on child pornography charges. During the course of his trial, Miller was jailed and relinquished control of his home to his son, who came to police with more evidence of child porn in his father's home.

On Nov. 16, 2014, Arthur Miller informed a Lincoln Park police officer that he had found a flash drive that contained pornographic images of an 11-year-old girl – the same child his father had been accused of sexually assaulted four years earlier in a separate case. However, during trial, all charges were dropped because the girl was unable to testify, records show.

Authorities looked at the flash drive that Arthur Miller gave them and found images of the girl in sexually explicit poses, plus thousands of other child porn images obtained from the Internet.

On Jan. 9, the father pleaded guilty to producing and possessing child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July in federal court and faces up to 50 years in prison.

Meanwhile, here's what led authorities to his son:

In March, an electronic paper trail linked Arthur Miller to a Westland man who was under investigation for child pornography. That man told authorities that he once lived with Arthur Miller, whose Romulus home was searched on March 25.

Police and federal agents seized a laptop and other electronics. They found child pornography, including many of the same images that were on the father's flash drive, and additional images obtained from the Internet.

According to court documents, Arthur Miller waived his Miranda rights and agreed to be interviewed, telling police "multiple stories" as to why he had child pornography.

"He denied ever sexually touching a child," FBI agent Raymond Nichols wrote in one affidavit. "Arthur Miller stated that he was 'keeping it as an insurance policy,' and if his father's cases somehow 'went south,' or if the evidence was 'lost, or thrown out,' he would produce the SD card to law enforcement and tell them he found it in (his father's) house."