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Local band teacher accused of raping student, taking pictures of the sex acts faces 19 charges

The formal charges against Heath Miller are as follows:

3 charges of sexual activity with a child.

5 charges of lewd lascivious molestation.

4 charges of lewd lascivious conduct.

5 charges of tampering with witness victim or informant.

2 charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

That's 19 in total.

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Surprising new evidence surfaces in the case of a popular band teacher accused of having sex with students and fellow co-workers inside his band room.

Heath Miller, former band teacher at Watkins Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens, may stay behind bars for a long time. Prosecutors are furious, they've found what appears to be photos of Miller having sex with young girls. They also say he tried to destroy evidence and even intimidate the victims into changing their stories. 

Miller was voted the most popular teacher at the school in 2007. Now he's accused of having sex or fondling four of his students. One even says he pulled her out of class and then raped her inside his band room. Now we're finding out inside that band room was a memory card. Police say stored in that card were pictures of him having sex with girls. The card was turned in by another teacher that Miller had sex with at school. She says Miller asked her to remove the card from band room so police couldn't find it.

The state is also worried about Miller's attempts to get the victims to change their stories by having other people contact the victims.

In a motion just filled, prosecutors are asking that Miller stay jailed until his trial due to the "probability of intimidation and danger to the victims and witnesses."

In addition to keeping Miller behind bars, the state also wants to limit his mail and phone privileges.

Heath Miller's hearing that was scheduled for today has been cancelled. According to the Clerk of Courts office, Miller's attorney requested a waiver for arraignment.

According the the jail, Miller was supposed to have a bond hearing this morning, but Miller's attorney dropped his opposition that he not get a bond hearing.


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