BAY VILLAGE, OH — Bay Village police are investigating claims of suspected child abuse involving the daughter of Congressman Max Miller.
According to a police report, the allegations date back to February.
The few details listed in the report said a county child protective specialist from the Division of Children and Family Services came to the police department to speak with an officer about “suspected child abuse.”
Police said no other details will be released, citing an open investigation by the department’s detective bureau.
But court records showed that days later, Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, filed a motion in the couple’s contentious divorce case asking a judge to make Moreno the sole custodian of the couple’s two-year-old daughter.
In the filing, Moreno claimed Miller regularly spoke to her in an “inappropriate, aggressive and demeaning manner,” and claimed the congressman “has conducted dangerous physical behavior in the child’s presence.”
A Cuyahoga County spokesperson said she could not confirm if Miller was part of a DCFS investigation, citing confidentiality mandates.
But Miller’s attorney, Larry Zukerman, provided a document he said came from the county, which said an investigation of alleged physical abuse of Miller’s daughter was reported Feb. 19 and listed Max Miller as the perpetrator.
It also said the findings were “unsubstantiated,” meaning “there is no evidence that child abuse or neglect occurred,” according to the letter.
In a statement, Zukerman called the allegations against Miller false and wrote in part, “neither Ms. Moreno, nor anyone else has demonstrated any evidence against Congressman Miller.”
Court records show Miller wants a judge to order psychological evaluations in the couple’s child custody battle, citing what he called his ex-wife’s “increasingly confrontational, irrational, and somewhat bizarre” behavior since the couple’s divorce.
In his filing, Miller said that it included repeated and unsubstantiated allegations of abuse of the couple’s child.
His attorney wrote, “Max’s priorities revolve around his daughter,” and blamed Moreno for trying to use the media to force the congressman out of his seat.
While Moreno, in a statement provided by her attorneys with Zashin Law, said her ex-husband “lives off a trust fund and has a well-documented history of using his wealth, lawyers, and the courts to bully his enemies.”
Moreno wrote that she “categorically rejects” all of Miller’s claims, and called herself a “strong, loving mother.”
“If Mr. Miller is looking for an individual with abusive behavior, he should look in the mirror and past the veneers,” Moreno wrote.
Both sides are scheduled to return to court in two weeks for a hearing.
