South Carolina pastor faces new allegations months after wife's suicide death, FBI raid on home

Yahoo

28-02-2025

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A new lawsuit has been filed against an embattled South Carolina pastor whose wife, Mica Miller, took her own life last spring, and his father, accusing the men of "sexual abuse and predatory conduct" and using the church as a "sexual playground" for decades.
The lawsuit, obtained by Fox News Digital, alleges that John-Paul Miller, now 45, attacked a 15-year-old girl in 1998 while at Sunday school at Miller's father's church.
"For years, John-Paul Miller and Reginald Wayne Miller have presented themselves as devout religious leaders. They built their reputations in the Myrtle Beach community and beyond as men of faith, dedicated to spreading God's word and training future church leaders. But this image was a lie," the complaint reads.
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The 43-page complaint accuses Miller, then 19, of taking the girl into his father's office at All Nations Church before forcing her outside and sexually assaulting her inside his truck.
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The woman, who now lives in Indiana, is being identified as "Jane Doe" to avoid the risk of "humiliation and embarrassment," according to the complaint.
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At the time of her alleged assault, John-Paul was "known to his father, church leadership and members as a troubled individual with a history of reckless behavior, including prior legal troubles, a child born out of wedlock, and a pattern of misconduct," according to the lawsuit.
"Behind their religious façade, John-Paul Miller and Reginald Wayne Miller engaged in sexual abuse and predatory conduct—often targeting minors. They used their positions of power to manipulate and exploit vulnerable victims while concealing their actions from the public," the complaint continued.
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"Upon information and belief, this deception has shielded them from law enforcement scrutiny, allowing their misconduct to continue unchecked."
Years after the first alleged assault, the same woman reported encountering John-Paul in person during a trip to Myrtle Beach with a friend in 2023. John-Paul allegedly leaned in to hug her "and shoved his hand down her pants, touching her genitals without consent," according to the complaint.
The woman and John-Miller then got into a heated argument when he later tried to use scripture from the Bible to justify the attack, quoting, "No man is without sin and temptation. God understands that."
"This church was JPM's sexual playground," the complaint states.
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"Leadership at the church, including RWM, should have undertaken something to protect the minors at the church from JPM and any other predator," according to the lawsuit. "They did not."
The lawsuit also raised questions about the financial dealings of the ministries and their leaders. John-Paul has been at the center of controversy since the death of his wife last April. Mica, 30, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in North Carolina's Lumber River State Park, on April 27.
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Her death shed light on the couple's strained relationship. The pair were separated, and Mica filed for divorce two days before she died, according to FOX 8 Greensboro.
Robeson County Sheriff's Office investigators also determined that John-Paul "and a female that he is allegedly romantically involved with" were not in Robeson County at the time of Mica's death.
John-Paul was arrested in November on charges of assault and battery after a reported confrontation with protesters outside his local church, Solid Rock at Common Market.
The FBI also searched John-Paul's home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in November.
His attorney's office previously told Fox News Digital he does not have any comment on his wife's case.
Fox News Digital reached out to John-Paul's attorney. His father and their churches could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to this report. Original article source: South Carolina pastor faces new allegations months after wife's suicide death, FBI raid on home