Rich Montreal businessman Robert Miller, accused of various sexual crimes against teenage girls, will likely undergo a long criminal trial: Tuesday morning, the Crown announced that it would need five weeks to present its evidence. The defense is asking for time given the precarious state of health of the accused.
Miller, 81, was until recently the big boss of the company Future Electronics.
Arrested at the end of May, he faces 21 charges, including sexual assault, pimping and sexual exploitation of ten young women and teenage girls between 1994 and 2016. Their identity is protected by publication ban orders.
The accused’s lawyer, Me Isabella Teolis argued Tuesday in court that her client is bedridden and his health is fragile. The amount of evidence against him is significant, in particular because of the long video interviews of the complainants to the police, and she maintains that she needs time to explain to him everything that the Crown has against him.
The Crown said it was ready to choose a trial date.
Judge Mélanie Hébert, however, gave the defense some time. The lawyers must return to court in December to take stock.
An accomplice
Police also arrested a 67-year-old woman from Mr. Miller’s entourage in June for pimping. The trial of Teresita Fuentes, 67, is expected to last only three days, because it is linked to only one plaintiff.
Remember that Robert Miller was the target of an investigation by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) in 2009, but no charges were then laid. In 2023, the investigation was relaunched following a report by Radio-Canada which dug into the matter and spoke to women who claimed to have been recruited as teenagers to offer him sexual services in exchange for money. money and gifts.