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Pastor drove to US from Canada to sexually assault 15-year-old he met online, feds say

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A Canadian pastor drove to the United States during the summer of 2013 and sexually assaulted a teenage girl in a hotel, federal prosecutors said.

Now, a decade later — after the victim decided to look up the pastor online — he’s been charged and imprisoned, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“Thanks to her bravery in coming forward years later, we were able to arrest him and prevent further victimization of other minors,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison stated in the release.

Timothy Milley, a 69-year-old Toronto pastor, began communicating with the victim, then a 15-year-old Michigan resident, via an online chatroom, court documents show.

An attorney for Milley could not immediately be reached for comment by McClatchy News.

After several months of grooming her, Milley reportedly drove from Ontario to Trenton, Michigan, in the summer of 2013 to meet her, court records show. He picked her up outside of her high school and drove to a Best Western Hotel in a neighboring town.

He is accused of sexually assaulting the victim before telling her “we can’t be together,” according to court documents. Asked to clarify what Milley meant, the victim told investigators, “I was 15 years old. He was a predator breaking the law.”

Milley reportedly then dropped the victim off in Trenton and the pair’s communication lessened afterwards, according to court records.

The victim, now 22, said she distrusts everyone and is in a “dark place” as a result of the abuse, court documents show. She recently looked up Milley online to express her feelings and discovered that he had been arrested in Canada for soliciting a minor.

After learning of his charges, the accuser reported Milley to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and soon after he was arrested and charged with traveling in foreign commerce to have sex with a minor, according to an earlier Department of Justice press release.

Milley was sentenced on June 1 to 10 years in prison, officials said.

“Individuals who prey on children, especially those in positions of public trust, should expect to be held fully accountable for their actions,” Angie Salazar, a Homeland Security Investigations Detroit special agent in charge, stated in the release.

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