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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
May 5, 2011
A pastor with ties to an anti-gay group was arrested in April for allegedly helping a woman flee the United States with her daughter to avoid turning custody of the child over to her ex-girlfriend.
The pastor, Timothy David Miller, is charged with aiding in the removal of a child from the United States and retaining a child with intent to obstruct parental rights. He was released into the custody of a friend April 25 on $25,000 bond.
Miller was sought by the FBI for allegedly helping Lisa Miller (no relation) and her 9-year-old daughter travel to Central America. A federal arrest warrant exists for Lisa Miller. Her daughter, Isabella Miller Jenkins, is listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins were joined in a civil union in 2000 in Vermont and had a child, but the couple broke up in 2003.
Miller later came out as both ex-gay and born-again. She moved to Virginia, where, with the help of the anti-gay Liberty Counsel, she sought to eliminate Jenkin’s custody rights. In Virginia, Miller won custody but Jenkins received visitation rights.
Meanwhile, in a Vermont court, Jenkin’s was awarded custody. Courts in both states have since ruled in Jenkins’ favor.
In September 2009, Miller and her daughter disappeared.
The FBI maintains that Timothy Miller arranged for the mother and daughter to fly from Toronto to Mexico City, then to El Salvador and on to Managua, where the pastor has connections with Christian Aid Ministries.
The two traveled under false identities, according to the FBI.
An FBI affidavit also alleged that the mother and daughter were hidden in a beach house provided by a businessman associated with Liberty University, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell’s institution.
Liberty University dean and Liberty Counsel chair Matthew Staver said his organization severed ties with Lisa Miller when she fled the country and denied a connection with Timothy Miller.
