Robert Miller denies any wrongdoing and told Radio-Canada he never had sex with someone below the age of consent.
Several women have alleged to Radio-Canada’s Enquête that they were paid to have sex with Montreal billionaire Robert Miller, the founder of Future Electronics, while they were minors.
The report, posted on Radio-Canada’s website Thursday morning, sheds light on a Montreal police investigation conducted more than a decade ago that resulted in no criminal charges being filed against the head of the company based in Pointe-Claire. The women who came forward to Radio-Canada say they still wonder why no charges were filed.
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On Nov. 4, 2009, the Montreal police Child Sexual Exploitation Unit carried out a search warrant at the international multibillion-dollar electronic components distributor’s building on Hymus Blvd. Reporters working at the Montreal Gazette’s former offices in the West Island, also on Hymus Blvd., noticed the police operation and a Gazette photographer took photos as detectives walked in and out of the building. But at the time, the Montreal police would not comment on the investigation and no one at Future Electronics was willing to comment.
On Thursday, a woman who answered the phone at Future Electronics said the company again would have no comment on the story by Enquête.
“It’s a private company. We don’t do that,” the woman said.
Six women were interviewed by Enquête and they each alleged they had sex with Miller in exchange for money. According to the report posted on Radio-Canada’s website, Miller replied to the allegations by letter denying any wrongdoing. He wrote that he never had sex with someone below the age of consent, which was previously 14 years old before it was changed to 16 in Canada’s Criminal Code in 2008.
Polices sources told the Gazette in 2009 that Miller was being investigated for allegedly having paid to have sex with minors, which is illegal in Canada. Sources also said the results of the investigation were submitted to the director of criminal and penal prosecutions (DPCP), but no charges were filed.
John Westlake, a retired Montreal police detective who now works as a private investigator, was interviewed by Enquête. As a private investigator, he looked into the allegations that Miller was having sex with minors.
On Thursday, Westlake told the Gazette that he was very disappointed when he learned that no charges were filed following the police investigation.
Some of the women who came forward told Enquête that they were puzzled over how the investigation was conducted. They said a lawyer representing Miller was present when they gave their statements to the police.
“They almost treated us like criminals,” one woman told Enquête. “We had to be fingerprinted, they took our photos: profile, face. When you act like that with victims, it’s super intimidating.”
“The girls were not treated right or with respect,” Westlake told the Gazette on Thursday. “It seemed to be all about power and money.”
The article on Radio-Canada’s website says Miller had sex with the minors at a Montreal hotel close to his home at the time. The article quotes a hotel employee who described seeing several teenage girls going to his suite in 1999 and 2000.
The article also alleges that in the early 2000s, Miller changed the meeting place to a house in Westmount. The women who were interviewed said Miller claimed his name was Bob Adams and that he was an American businessman who travelled often to Montreal. They said Miller would ask them many questions about themselves but rarely revealed anything about himself.
This article will be updated.
pcherry@postmedia.com