Area Man Posed As Teen, Got Lurid Photos Of Girls In 4 States: Police

WAUKESHA COUNTY, WI — Craig D. Miller, 44, wasn’t a Brookfield teenager at all, but only posed as one to convince young girls in at least four states to send him lurid photos of themselves, according to a criminal complaint charging Miller, of New Berlin, with 18 felony counts.

The charges include causing mental harm to a child, sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography, exposing his genitals to a child and identity theft causing harm. Miller is accused of exerting “control and psychological pressure on these fragile girls to get them to comply with his requests,” the complaint stated.

To pull off the ruse as “Andy Harrington,” a 19-year-old college student, Miller used photos of a New Jersey teen and communicated with 14-, 15- and 16-year-old girls through apps such as Kik and Instagram, according to the complaint. The activity reportedly dated back to 2015.

Police in New Berlin raided Miller’s apartment in February, acting on a tip from police in Indiana after a 16-year-old girl there tried to commit suicide, reportedly because supposed friends of Harrington — in actuality, Miller — said he had tried to kill himself over a girl, according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

When New Berlin police searched Miller’s residence, they found hundreds of photos of 17 people, including the New Jersey 20-year-old whose photos Miller is accused of using to pass himself off as Harrington.

Besides the Indiana girl, Miller communicated underage victims in Colorado, Kentucky and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, according to the complaint.

A warrant for his arrest as issued Tuesday, the Journal-Sentinel said.

» For more on this story, go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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