Norman businessman under investigation for human trafficking, sexual battery

Dec. 1—A Norman-based businessman is under investigation for potential human trafficking after being accused of sexual battery.

On Nov. 18, the Norman Police Department received a 911 call regarding a possible sexual battery at a Norman residence. The victim answered police at the front door and identified the homeowner, John Miller, as the suspect.

The victim told police she had arrived from Colombia on Nov. 14 after responding to a Facebook ad to serve as a live-in nanny for Miller's child. Miller is the founder of Oklahoma Copier Solutions, which has several locations around the state.

Upon arrival in Oklahoma City, the victim met Miller and another woman who was also from Colombia. The suspected victim told police that on Nov. 15, Miller cornered the victim in a closet and masturbated in front of her.

The victim also told police that Miller had repeatedly groped her. In Spanish, she and the other woman reportedly discussed unwanted sexual advances they faced from Miller. The victim said speaking Spanish upset Miller, and that he ultimately left the other woman on the sidewalk at Will Rogers World Airport.

The victim claimed on Nov. 18, Miller masturbated in front of her again, then told her to put on a swimsuit and meet him in the backyard by the pool. At this point, the victim called the police.

The responding officers took the victim to the Norman Investigation Center and attempted to contact Miller. Officers reported that he did not answer the door or phone calls, and that they witnessed him place the victim's property outside.

On Nov. 22, an NPD officer received a search warrant for Miller's home. The officer retrieved several items including four cell phones, a laptop, a thumb drive, a shirt and Miller's passport.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, which handles human trafficking cases within the state, interviewed the victim at the Norman Investigation Center, where OBN determined Miller had brought as many as five women total to the United States to work as a nanny.

No charges have been filed against Miller.

He did not respond on Friday to a request for comment.

Mark Woodward, the Public Information Officer for OBN, said OBN needs evidence for one of three factors to press charges in a human trafficking case.

"The three things that allow us to prove human trafficking is force, fraud or coercion. So if we can show that a victim was forced into it, fraud was committed — for example, say, somebody promised them a job and and that job is technically illegal and therefore it's not a real job — or coercion, saying basically, 'You do this, or I'm gonna kill your family back home.'"

In 2010, a federal jury ordered Sooner Copy Machines Inc. (one of Miller's businesses which has since been merged into Oklahoma Copier Solutions) to pay $97,000 to a woman named Joy Savoia, who had claimed she was sexually harassed and subjected to a hostile work environment during her brief stint working for the company.

In a statement given to The Transcript in 2010, Miller wrote that Savoia had a drug problem and he had fired her for that reason after nine days on the job.

"We did not follow proper and appropriate procedures when terminating this employee, which is an irreversible error that we have since taken measures to prevent from occurring again," Miller wrote.

Savoia denied to The Transcript that she had a substance abuse problem.

She also said other women testified in the 2010 hearing, reporting they had experienced similar treatment.

NPD and OBN continue to investigate potential evidence of sexual battery and human trafficking, respectively.

The victim has been moved into a shelter for victims of domestic or sexual violence for the time being.