Former worker at Antioch's Deer Valley High School accused of trying to contact minors for sex acts

MARTINEZ -- A former employee of Deer Valley High School in Antioch is facing felony charges for allegedly arranging to meet minors to engage in sex acts, and authorities are asking for the public's help to track down other potential victims.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said 30-year-old Christopher George Miller faces multiple felony counts after his arrest on March 16 during a sting operation. 

The investigation started in 2022 just days after he began a job as a substitute campus supervisor at the school. A parent of a student reported to school officials that Miller was sending inappropriate texts to the student regarding marijuana use at the school, as well as sexually suggestive messages, the DA's office said.

In a statement, Antioch Unified School District Superintendent Stephanie Anello said Miller had worked a total of seven days at his job when the report was made.

"In June of 2022, a parent reported that Mr. Chris Miller, a Site Safety substitute at Deer Valley High School, engaged in an inappropriate exchange with her daughter. Administration immediately called the Antioch Police Department to report the allegation and the substitute was terminated that same day."

Earlier this month, the county's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) took on the case to see if Miller would sell marijuana to a minor and arrange to meet for sex, the DA's office said. Investigators posed as a 13-year-old girl on a chat app and Miller offered to sell the fictitious teen marijuana while the chats became more sexual in nature, the DA's office said. 

On March 16, Miller arranged to meet the teen for sex at a park in Martinez and when he arrived he was arrested by members of the ICAC task force. He was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility and on March 21 was arraigned on seven felony charges, including contacting a minor for a sexual offense, showing pornography to a minor, meeting a minor for lewd purposes, and attempting to sell marijuana to a minor.

ICAC Senior Inspector Darryl Holcombe said Miller may have been in contact with other victims and urged anyone with information about Miller's case to email him at DHolcombe@contracostada.org.  

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 3. The Contra Costa Superior Court website shows Miller was being held on $405,000 bail.