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CHAPTER 18

On our way back to Ohio all we could think and talk about was the Miller children, and how sad it was to see them forced to go on that visitation. We were exhausted and couldn't wait to get home and get some sleep. On July 3, 1997, we slept in till about 9:00 a.m. which left us three hours to get ready to leave home for work. We had a lot of paper work to do before we could leave. At twelve-fifteen, we hugged and kissed our daughters good-bye, and headed for Cincinnati.

We arrived in Cincinnati at three-fifteen in the afternoon. By four o'clock we had our personal stuff in the truck, and had a load of freight going to Memphis, Tennessee. At six-thirty that evening I called Ervin just to see if he'd heard anything from his brothers and sisters, and make sure everything was okay. Ervin said his brothers and sisters hadn't called that they would call between seven and eight o'clock that evening. This was Betty's day to go to the gynecologist. I was concerned about the test results. I told Ervin to just call home and tell our daughters yes or no, don't say more, and have Katie and Becky page me if it was really important. In the meantime, I prayed.

At eight-thirty p.m. my pager went off. I stopped at the nearest truck stop, called home and talked to Debra. When Debra answered the phone, she said, "Dad, whatever you and Ervin talked about, the answer is no." I thought, Thank God. She said something really funny happened in New York. She laughed and said I'd better call Ervin, that he could explain it a lot better than she could. I phoned Ervin immediately. Ervin made the following statements concerning July 1, 1997. Social Services appointed two case workers to the case the day of the visitation, Fred Bundy the original case worker and Lisa, whose last name I don't remember. The visit had gone so badly that Lisa wrote her own partner up on a major complaint.

Bishop Miller went to the court house in Canton, New York and filed a complaint against Detective Jerry Wayner and Michelle, saying they'd been boyfriend and girlfriend ever since the alleged severe beating took place in 1995. Bishop Jacob wanted Detective Jerry Wayner removed from the case immediately. Bishop Jacob had a church member willing to testify to this so-called fact. Back in the early nineties, three of the oldest Bishops from the Swartzentruber Amish church had excommunicated Bishop Jacob for lying, which he later admitted to.

On July 3,1997 about nine a.m. Detective Jerry Wayner and another detective arrived at the Andy Miller residence. Jerry explained the complaint that Bishop Jacob had made against him. Before he had completed his statement, Michelle burst out laughing.

She said, "Jerry Wayner, you weren't my boyfriend then, and you're not my boyfriend now. The Spring of 1995 when I took that serious beating and you were called out, the only thing you might have done at that time is put your hand on my shoulder to comfort me."

"I know," Jerry said. "The whole is ridiculous."

On the evening of July 3,1997 Social Services made a surprise visit to the Miller residence. The caseworker this time wasn't Fred Bundy, it was a female caseworker named Lisa. She brought her note pad into the house and started asking questions and taking notes. The children asked her what happened to Fred Bundy, and Lisa told them he was no longer on the case she was their new caseworker.

Angry, Kevin Miller said, "You were also part of the problem, and you took part of the bad ordeal on July 1st at our visitation. My younger brothers and sisters feared for their lives that day. Social Services has done anything but work for us children. The only thing that Social Services is concerned about is our Amish connection and our parents. Because of you, I have to watch my brothers and sisters cry themselves to sleep. You are fired! Leave this property immediately." After Lisa left, the Miller children called their attorney Ed Hyde, who said he would try to have Social Services completely removed from the case.

On July 5, 1997, I talked to Ervin concerning this case and the mental state of his brother Peter. It was now about a week since Peter left New York from visiting his brothers and sisters, and appearing in the pretrial hearing for both of his parents. Peter still has a blank stare in his eyes. I don't think the medication he's on is going to be powerful enough. I'm afraid we'll have to hospitalize him before it's all over. That evening I talked to Michelle. She said Ed Hyde had talked to Judge Dale Skelley about the case. Ed advised the Judge that he wanted to have a final court hearing within six weeks. The Judge said that considering the conditions the children were living under, six weeks would be too long. He wanted to get it finished up in three weeks, for the children's sake. I thought that was a good, powerful statement.

Ed Hyde advised the children to start preparing to move to Ohio. He added that he didn't know whether he was going to try to remove Social Services from this case, or just concentrate on getting the children out of New York. I told Ervin that he needed to find a place for these children, and whatever kind of help he needed to let me know.

The following day I received an emergency page from Ervin. I called him immediately, and he told me that Peter was getting worse, and he didn't know what to do with him.

"Should I admit him to a state hospital?" he said.

I said, "Ervin do what you have to. Is Peter at your place right now?"

"No, he’s at his own home," Ervin said.

"Hitch up your horse and buggy, go to Peter's home and see how he is, then use your judgment," I said. "I'm not home right now, but if he needs me I can come home."

Ervin named six different State hospitals, and then added, "Which one, Uncle David?"

"Try for the closest one to home," I said. Ervin also had a phone number out of New Phila, Ohio that you could call concerning mental patients.

He said, "Uncle David should I call that first and have them come out and check Peter out?"

"Like I said, Ervin, I'd first go down and see him then make the call if you need to. Maybe the hospital will send someone to come out, if you have to take him to the State Hospital," I explained.

Ervin said, "Uncle David, when does it ever quit?"

"I don't know. Some of you children will have nervous breakdowns now, others later on in life. The strong ones will make it through life without ever having a break down. I wish I had something better to tell you, but this is the truth," I explained.
"Again, if you need me I'll come home." I wished Ervin luck and hung up the phone. Then I called up my daughters and talked to them and told them that I loved them.
On Monday of July 7,1997, we delivered a load of freight in Sacramento, Ca. I called my nephew Ervin that evening. This is what he had to say, when he arrived at his brother's, Peter didn't seem right at all. Ervin called New Phila, Ohio and had someone come out and take a look at Peter for a second opinion. The phone call Ervin made was to a crisis hot line that specialized in mental patients. They also had a religious background, which was why Ervin wanted their opinion. This was fine by me.

All I wanted to do was guide them in the right direction, and give them the support they needed. The person from the crisis hot line said to keep Peter on his medication, that they would hate to see him go to the State Hospital. Perhaps this could be solved some other way, without Peter being separated from his wife and child. I expected this, because of the strong religious background. Ervin brought his brother Peter and his wife and child to his place on Sunday to stay with him.

Ervin said, "Uncle David, how much more of this do I have to take?" Then he added, "I guess I might as well laugh." I agreed with Ervin that was the best thing he could do at that point. I assured him things would get better sooner or later.

That Monday Peter took Ervin's job at the sawmill. Ervin was off looking for a home for his brothers and sisters from New York, but the three places Ervin checked up on were already promised to some other Amish families. Nevertheless, Ervin decided to do what I had asked him earlier to do: speak to the true Old Order Amish, the less conservative sector, and ask them if they would help.

Ervin explained to them how the Miller and the Swartzentruber Amish had totally abandoned his brothers and sisters. Ervin spoke to a Bishop and a Deacon of the Old Order Amish. They are the true Amish, and have better than one hundred Old Order Amish Churches. The Bishop and Deacon said they would be willing to help, but Ervin's brother and sisters would have to modernize and join their church. I didn't think that would be a bad idea, because when I was growing up I worked for these true Old Order Amish. They weren't as strict, and a lot more modern. In most cases, they gave a lot fewer spankings.

The Bishop and the Deacon said they might pass the good will plate among their one hundred churches to take up a collection for Ervin's brothers and sisters. However, they'd have to take it up with the rest of the Old Order Amish Bishop and Preachers first.

I told Ervin, "Well that's good. We'll just keep our fingers crossed."

"Still," I went on, "I wouldn't totally count on these Amish. Remember, these are the same Amish people I tried to motivate at the beginning of this trial for your brothers and sisters. But maybe by now they see that we aren’t playing games. They don't want to be thought of the same way as the Swartzentruber and Miller Amish are for not standing up and helping these children. I really don't care why they're having a change of heart, as long as they're willing to help."

I was on the telephone for forty-five minutes with Ervin, until I finally had to tell him I had to go, and wished him luck. I also made a phone call up to Jack Wayner's home, the Andy Miller children's neighbor. I spoke to Jack and Donna Wayner. Jack Wayner was still very much concerned about how Social Services was handling the case. I also talked to my nephew, Paul, and asked him how everything was going.
He stated, "I guess okay, Uncle David, but someone from Social Services contacted us today." They had another surprise visit scheduled for the next day with their parents that none of the children were looking forward to, but had to deal with. Social workers Fred Bundy and Lisa, who oversaw the last visitation, had been temporally removed from this case by Social Services. I wished them luck and told him if they needed anything just to call.

On July 8,1997, we were laid over in a Motel room in Sacramento, Ca. It was nice for a change to soak in a bathtub. Fran especially enjoyed it. Later that evening I called Jack and Donna Wayner. I also got to speak to a couple of my nephews. Jack and Donna said that the children weren't speaking much about the visitation earlier in the day. I called our Company that evening and found out that we were going to spend another day at Motel 6.

Fran and I walked about half a mile to the liquor store and got two quarts of Bud Light and a quart of Strawberry wine, and walked back to the Motel. Then we called Pizza Hut and had them deliver a Supreme pizza to our room. Of course, we called our girls, which we did automatically once or twice a day. We spent the evening watching HBO, drinking beer and eating pizza.

On the evening of the 9th of July Ervin paged me, and I returned his call as soon as possible. Ervin was very concerned about Peter's mental state. He said, "Peter appears to be getting worse. His eyes have a wild stare. David I can't take care of him the rest of my life. I wish he'd get better, or show signs of improvement at least. I just don't know what to do."

"Well," I said, "that all depends. If you feel mentally capable of giving him more time to get better, then I would do so. If you don't, admit him to the mental hospital. I'm sorry, Ervin, but that's the best advice I can give you."

Ervin also said he was waiting on word from the true Old Order Amish to see if they were going to help find his ten youngest brothers and sisters a home. I wished Ervin luck and hung up the phone. I also called Jack and Donna Wayner in New York, and talked to my niece Michelle, just to make sure they were doing all right. She stated they couldn't wait until it was all over. They were all looking forward to being in Ohio soon. Michelle said maybe that way they could leave this nightmare behind.

Thursday, July 10,1997, this was one day that we decided to keep just for the Yoder family, if possible. I called home three times and talked to our girls, discussing everyday life. The girls were wishing we could come home, and so were we, but we had to stay out and make some money. Raising children nowadays is expensive. It's a lot different from the way the Amish raise them. Our way is to try to make sure our daughters get all the education they want. The Amish way of life is to give their children as little education as possible and work them as much as possible.

On July 11,1997, the Miller children had another visitation. This visitation was a lot like the first one, Andy and his wife were complaining constantly. Andy was saying the corn was too weedy, and they weren't making their hay fast enough. Also, their son Paul had his sleeves rolled up too far on his shirt. Andy and Emma Miller both told the children they had to go to church. The girls were told to clean the garden better, can strawberries, and make sure the girls tie their caps.

Andy and his wife were telling the children they would be home soon. But of course the children weren't aware that their parents sold their home farm. According to the Ogdensburg newspaper on July 7,1997, Andy and Emma Miller sold their home farm for $35,000.00, less than half its value. Andy and Emma also owned half of another farm with their son Robert. Andy's share of the farm was $30,000.00. According to the Ogdensburg newspaper, Andy sold their half for $10,000.00 to their son Robert. Andy thought the court order stated that they weren't allowed on their property, but if they sold it, this would be a way around the system. This is Andy and Emma's way of beating the system.

Friday evening after visitation, Michelle took a couple of the youngest children to the dentist. But when they got to the dentist's office Fred Bundy from Social Services called the dentist office, and said the children weren't to have any dental work done, that it was against Andy and Emma Miller's religious beliefs. Fred Bundy said they could only do dental work on the Miller children under the age of 18 if it was an extreme emergency. Michelle was very upset and disappointed.

She said, "Just when you think it's getting better, it gets worse again." I tried to get a hold of Ervin on the phone, but the Swartzentruber Preachers had a meeting with Ervin that evening, so Ervin had to take the phone off the hook. They were trying to get Ervin to take the case out of the Courts and let the Amish deal with it.
Saturday, July 12,1997, I was hoping to just have another quiet day trucking. At six p.m. our daughters paged me. I stopped at the nearest phone and called home. They were quick to tell me that Ervin called and I needed to call him. I called my nephew Ervin, expecting to hear some kind of bad news. But I was happy to hear the change in his voice.

Ervin told me that Peter had gotten better, that he'd asked to move back to his own home and that he was ready to have his old job back. This was a big load off Ervin's mind. Ervin further explained how the preachers from his church were at his house on Friday evening. They had a long talk with Ervin, trying their best to get him to excommunicate himself, get this case out of the Court system, and give control back to the Bishop Jacob Miller. Ervin gave them scripture on how God loved his children and this type of abuse was wrong.

The Preachers told Ervin that if he would get the case out of the court system they would help. "Just what kind of help did you have in mind?" Ervin asked.

"After the case had been removed, we'd go and speak to Bishop Jacob Miller," the preachers said.

"Why didn't you try that before when we asked for help?" Ervin asked.

"We didn't want to get involved. Bishop Jacob doesn't belong to our church," the preachers said.

"Why do you want to get involved now?" Ervin asked.

"Well we don't want the Amish in the courts. It's not good for our community," the preachers replied.

"What about my brothers and sisters? Are you saying you're more concerned about the reputation of your community than the well being of my brothers and sisters?" Ervin said incredulously.

Preacher Enos Yoder and Preacher Atlee Troyer both replied, "Well Bishop Jacob Miller belongs to a different church."

"Oh, so there's really nothing you can do about it," Ervin said.

"Well, we can see if he'll listen to us. We could try to tell the Bishop to go easier on his children," said the preachers.

"Is that all," Ervin said.

"Afraid so," replied the preachers. "But Ervin you should make yourself free from sin," they said. "By getting the law involved in this you have sinned against the community and God. Ervin, please remove it from the courts and excommunicate yourself and make yourself free from sin."

"I couldn't remove it from the courts even if I wanted to," Ervin said. “What's going on right now in family court has nothing to do with Peter, James, or me. This has to do with the ten children at home. The D.A. Ray Vance said that he is not expecting the felony charges to be brought to trial. That is the only thing that Ervin, Peter, James, and I have anything to do with. I can't tell my ten younger brothers and sisters to take that out of the family court. That's not how the system works."

Preacher Enos Yoder and Atlee Troyer both replied, "Ervin please make yourself free from sin for the good of the community, before it is too late."

Ervin said, "If I have sinned so bad, and you want me to be excommunicated, then why have my mother and father not been excommunicated for their sins, for beating my brothers and sisters?"

"The Bible speaks of discipline of the children. They might have been a little harsh, but discipline is good. Ervin this has gone too far. You children standing up against your parents this way is no good for the community. Please make yourself free from sin, Ervin." Then the Preachers left.

Later that Saturday Ervin talked to the true Old Order Amish Bishop and Preacher. They stated they been in steady contact with Ervin's Bishop and preachers and were no longer sure they wanted to get involved. They thought it would be better if Ervin's Bishop and preachers handled it.

They said, "Ervin what about your Uncle David? What if he were to bring the TV cameras up in our community? We don't wish to make your Uncle David angry, but from what we can see it would be better if you did it through your church. However, you're welcome to check with us later. We have to talk this over with other Bishops."

Ervin said, "My Uncle David is harmless as long as you do what's right. But if you try to corrupt the system and not stand up for these children he'll do whatever it takes to see that justice is done."

Ervin said to me, "Uncle David, what can we do? You're like that old corner fence post we can lean on you and pull on you from all directions, and you're always there for us."

I laughed and said, "Gee thanks, Ervin, nobody has ever described me quite that way. As far as your brothers and sisters go, we'll just make a home by ourselves for them in Ohio. We can't count on the Amish. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

I hung up the phone, and prepared more documents: the cover sheet for Judge Dale Skelley and Ed Hyde. These two documents were prepared on Sunday, and our daughter Debra took them to Ervin Miller to have them signed. The reason for this is the higher classed (true Old Order Amish) were refusing to help. Our nieces and nephews had a custody hearing coming up some time in the end of July. According to the Attorney and the Judge they needed a notarized statement from either a church or a relative from the State of Ohio, if they expected to be transferred out of New York. If this wasn't done before trial date, the children's nightmare could have very well be just beginning they might have been farmed out to foster homes in New York State. Another nightmare, I thought.

Every time I visit my nieces and nephews, I walk away with tears in my eyes. As much as I try to understand how this atrocity took place in the Amish community, I realize that there's just no way I'll ever understand. Here I was, going up against my oldest sister, who I had looked up to. I had shed tears when she got married and moved away from home, and more when I had heard rumors of spousal abuse. I had seen terror in her eyes the night Andy viciously shook the little baby crib with Ervin in it.

Emma, too, was abused by Andy Miller, he'd beaten her choked her to the ground. I tried everything I knew to end this nightmare for my nieces, nephews and sister, but there was little I could do. No one outside the Amish community would listen to me. They couldn’t imagine that something like that could ever happen under in a "peaceful" organization.

On December 10th, 1996, we did a personal interview on 20/20 in Walnut Creek, Ohio. During that interview, producer Arlene Wallace was quick to ask me about the abuse, and about my family. When she brought up my family it brought tears to my eyes, and I started to cry. I know Arlene and Larry from 20/20 believed there was a major problem with the Andy Miller family. This was all caught on live tape, but head personnel wouldn't let Arlene and Larry air that section of tape.
Arlene and Larry wanted to, but were overruled. The hardest part for me was facing the fact that my lovely sister, who'd been abused in the past, became abusive against her own innocent children. This was the last thing that I expected, the last thing I wanted to hear.

I had a conversation with Sack Younger's wife. She and her husband were Andy and Emma's neighbors. She said, "David how do you feel to find out that your sister was also very abusive? You must find it very hard to deal with."

I said, "Yes, I do. There's only one way I know how to work with this case. I've got to look beyond the sister part and only focus on the child abuse part. It's painful, but I can't let that stop me. I must stay focused on helping the children."
Sherly Younger sighed, then said, "I just can't imagine how these children's grandparents could live with themselves, They probably have known about this, child abuse, all their lives and have done absolutely nothing to help their grandchildren."

"There's a lot of things about this situation I don't understand," I said.

"Those parents can't go back in that house with those children," she said. I assured her I'd do everything in my power to see to it that never happened.
Our daughter, Debra notarized a document for July 14th to be faxed to Judge Dale Skelley and Attorney Ed Hyde. At this point, the public in upstate New York was split about fifty-fifty about this case. Bishop Jacob Miller has tried to paint a dirty picture of those children and me.

He said that we were such bad individuals that the St. Lawrence Sheriffs Department had to have a talk with a few Amish, to let them know they can be held liable for their false statements. However, some of the public is getting very impatient. Some were furious about the way this case has been handled, but Bishop Jacob Miller and Andy and Emma Miller are not without their supporters.
On Monday, July 14,1997, I talked to my nephew Ervin again. I also called New York and talked to my niece, Michelle. She was going to find out how much the court transcripts of Andy and Emma's court proceedings were going to cost, and when we could get them. I wanted these transcripts so I could look them over, and possibly prepare for other actions.

On July 15,1997, I again called Ervin. Ervin said, "Today was visitation for his brothers and sisters and their parents, and the visitation went poorly. Social Services is no longer overseeing the visitation. All dad and mom did was gripe and complained that their children weren't following their strict guidelines," Ervin said. Some of the public is getting furious, upset and impatient." Levi Miller bought Andy Miller's home farm for $1.00. This included half of the second farm. Son Robert bought the other half of the farm for $10.00. My niece Michelle has a copy of the Deeds now, and I'll receive a copy within the next few days.

At some point, some of the Amish had their windowpanes cracked by a BB gun, also by marbles that have been shot by a slingshot. The worst thing that happened was that Bishop Jacob Miller's brother Levi's son Willie Miller's sawmill mysteriously burned down. An outside investigator was brought in. The investigator stated that the fire was intentionally set. Bishop Jacob Miller also had a few cracked windowpanes in his home. This is the last thing that I wanted, but I was afraid of it from the beginning.

Someone got the license plate number and the make of the pickup leaving the scene of the crime, and notified the owner of the vehicle. He immediately went back to the Amish and apologized and offered to make restitution for the damaged windows. But even knowing this, the Amish are still blaming Andy Miller's children.

These were just a few of the items Andy and Emma Miller were complaining about on the day of the visitation. They also complained about the boys' hair cut not being right, and their sleeves being rolled up to high. They told the children not to wear the clothes Michelle has made for them, and not to listen to Michelle, Ervin, or Peter. They said the reason they sold their property to Bishop Jacob Miller's brother Levi was because the children weren't doing the farm work properly.

Andy and Emma seriously accused their sons Kevin and Paul of breaking the windowpanes and of having part in burning the sawmill . They also talked to the children about the court case and how wrong it was, and how the children should just admit to it, and free themselves of these acts of violence against the Amish, that they are guilty.

Michelle Miller couldn't make it to the visitation. She had to go back to the doctor because her hip is still out of place and giving her a lot of trouble. The doctor wants to correct the problem, but wants to wait until the court procedures are over. He also wants Michelle to get her jaw checked out by a dentist, since Michelle has had constant pain in her jaw since a severe beating in 95, when her father beat her down to the ground with a v-belt, while her mother beat her about the face. The doctor wants to prove that her jaw was broken on that beating.

On July 16,1997, I talked to Ervin again . We're still very much deeply concerned about Civil Rights Issues, Social Services and Fred Bundy are attempting to make this a religious issue instead of an extreme child abuse case. I don't understand why Fred Bundy has made this case a religious issue. He has denied these children medical attention from the very beginning because of their religion.

Throughout the case he has made strong religious statements telling the children things like: "You can't roll your sleeves up so high it's against the Amish religion. Or, You have to go to church, but it's against the court order at the time being." And this: "When you go down to Jack Wayner's to swim, you aren't allowed to wear shorts. That's against your religion. If you go swimming, go the way you would if your Dad was here. Or did you even go swimming when your Dad was home?"

Paul replied, "Yes we did, in the back of the farm at a pond."

"I bet your Dad never wore shorts to go swimming," Bundy said.

"Do you want us to go swimming the way our Dad always did?" Paul asked.

"Of course," Fred Bundy replied. "If you go down to Jack Wayner's pool to swim, then dress like your Dad did when he went swimming."

"Are you sure?" Paul said smiling at his brothers.

"Of course I'm sure," said Fred Bundy. "Otherwise, you'll be going against your Mom and Dad's religion. And you must not do that."

Paul was quick to reply, with a grin on his face. Paul said, "I thought that Jack and Donna Wayner would have a problem with this, because you see my Dad always took all his clothes off when he went swimming. Do you think we should ask Jack and Donna if we can swim the way our Dad did, since you think it's against his religion to do it any other way?" Fred Bundy just shook his head, furious, and got in his car and drove off.

Every time Fred Bundy opens his scrunchy little lips he violates these children's civil rights. I don't know if Social Services is actually that stupid, or why they made this a religious issue. But doing so mean they're in violation of the Civil Rights Act. We've been so frustrated with Social Services. It's always been you can't do this or you can't do that, it's against your religion.

We felt we had no choice but to try and get some kind of pressure put on Social Services. What if we could get the attention of the Governor of New York? We weren't necessarily looking to have criminal charges filed against Social Services or the District Attorney's office. But the attention that their offices would receive would, we hoped; persuade them to do the right thing.