New allegations of sexual abuse hit BC councilor James Miller

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Two more victims of alleged sexual abuse have come forward in Ontario, leading to new charges there against a current Penticton city councilor and newspaper editor.

Police say James (Jim) Matthew Miller, 59, was identified by two people in an investigation into alleged offending in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Sarnia, Ontario, when he was a youth basketball coach in that community.

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Miller said it received a complaint early this year and issued a Canada-wide order. He was arrested by BC RCMP on Nov. 8 and charged with two counts of sexual interference and sexual assault of a person under the age of 16, related to alleged 1989 offences.

Miller now faces a total of seven charges of sexual interference, three charges of solicitation of sexual touching and one charge of sexual assault, police said.

Miller appeared virtually in a Sarnia court on November 8 and was released on conditions in B.C.

Sarnia police are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Const. Andrew Veale at 519-344-8861, ext. 6231.

Following Miller’s arrest in late July, the City of Penticton issued a statement saying Miller had been placed on “mandatory leave” due to the criminal charges.

In 2023, news of the historic sexual allegations surfaced in Sarnia and B.C., and Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield said Miller was asked to step aside from public events on behalf of the city while staff investigated the allegations. Miller was reinstated to active participation on the city council shortly thereafter.

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In the early 2000s, Miller was charged in Sarnia and acquitted of similar crimes related to allegations from 1986. At the time, a judge in Windsor, Ontario, ruled there was insufficient evidence against him. It is not clear how the new charges are related to that investigation.

Miller’s biography on the City of Penticton website indicates he arrived in 2008 from Spruce Grove, Alta. came to town. He was elected in a 2021 by-election and won a full term in 2022.

Miller is still listed as editor of the Penticton Herald and has also worked for the Kelowna Daily Courier, Spruce Grove Examiner and Stony Plain Reporter.

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