Heath Miller, a popular band teacher at H.L. Watkins Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens, faces over a dozen charges of sexual harassment, rape, and other illegal sexual contact with his students after a two groups of students have come forward to accuse Miller of having inappropriate sexual contact with them. At least four students, all between 14 and 16 years of age, have accused Miller of having sexual contact with them. One student claimed that Miller had sex with her in the uniform room of the school's band room, the Musca Law Florida criminal attorneys have learned.
Miller first attracted attention throughout south Florida when he fatally shot an intruder who broke into his Wellington home last February, according to Florida criminal defense lawyer John Musca. Miller shot 22 year old Robert Tomlin with a .38 caliber pistol after Tomlin broke into his home wielding a pistol. Local newspapers reported Miller's wife called 911 call frantically, where she told dispatchers that her husband had shot Tomlin and that Tomlin was not moving. At the time, police investigators were not able to discern a reason why Tomlin broke into Miller's house and Miller was not charged with any crimes for the shooting.
Since the recent allegations about Miller's sexual contact with his students, there has been some speculation that Tomlin's break-in was related to Miller's sexual assault allegations. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has recently received tips connecting Tomlin to some of the alleged victims of Miller's sexual assaults, but has thus far been unable to verify these allegations. In another twist to this case, Miller's cousin Kevin Whittaker was arrested in May on felony charges of witness tampering for allegedly telling one of Miller's 14-year-old victims to "wash her clothing" to get rid of any physical evidence of a sexual assault. Miller has been placed on unpaid leave from his teaching job and has denied any wrongdoing.
