Jefferson County Sex Offender Admits Molesting, Soliciting Images from Teen

ST. LOUIS - A registered sex offender living in Park Hills, Missouri on Tuesday admitted molesting a 14-year-old boy and providing cash and marijuana in exchange for nude images.

Reginald M. Miller, 57, of Park Hills, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to coercion and enticement of a minor as a repeat offender, solicitation of child pornography as a prior offender and receiving child pornography as a prior offender.

Miller admitted molesting the 14-year-old victim beginning in 2023 by touching his genitals without consent. Miller gave the victim alcohol and marijuana and paid him in attempt to keep him from reporting the molestation. Miller later offered the victim money or marijuana to expose himself in video calls. On Jan. 4, 2024, Miller sent a text to the victim saying that there was no escape from their "friendship," the plea agreement says.

At Miller's sentencing, scheduled for October 15, the U.S. Attorney's office will request a sentence of 40 years in prison.

In 1999, Miller was convicted of the felony offense of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree and two misdemeanor offenses of assault in the third degree in St. Louis County Circuit Court and sentenced to jail and probation. In 2008, Miller was convicted of charges including statutory sodomy in St. Louis Circuit Court and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The LaSalle Police Department, LaSalle County Sheriff's Office, Park Hills Police Department and FBI's St. Louis Division investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.