A Texas man is behind bars after being accused of impersonating a Child Protective Services worker to gain access to children, according to deputies.
Gerald Don Miller, 56, has been charged with three counts of impersonating a public servant and one count of sexual assault. He is being held in the Hopkins County Jail on a $300,000 bond.
The Lamar County Sheriff’s Office said it received a report on June 18 about a man impersonating a CPS worker after he allegedly told the child’s parents he needed to speak to the child and then “gained access to the child.”
The child and their parents were able to give detectives a description of the suspect and his vehicle.
TEXAS MAN ARRESTED AFTER MACHETE ATTACK, POLICE SAY
The sheriff’s office discovered during the investigation that a similar incident happened in Sulphur Springs, Texas, in November and learned that the suspect and vehicle description matched that of the suspect in Lamar County.
On June 25, Miller was identified by the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office as the suspect and an arrest warrant was obtained for him, as well as a search warrant for his home and vehicle.
While executing the search warrant, detectives found property from Miller’s vehicle corroborating what the Lamar County victim described. Evidence discovered in Miller’s vehicle also allegedly connected him to the incident in Sulphur Springs.
Miller was taken into custody and transported to the Franklin County Jail.
EIGHT PUPPIES ABANDONED IN SWELTERING TEXAS HEAT RESCUED BY DEPUTIES
Authorities said to remember that CPS workers carry accredited credentials and will show proof of said credentials before speaking to them.
Anyone who has had contact with Miller in which he claimed to be with CPS is urged to contact their local police. Miller is described as 5 feet, 8 inches and about 240 pounds with brown and white hair and a white mustache. He may have been carrying a red case with a Texas Department of Criminal Justice logo on it.
“This investigation is the perfect example of how cooperation between agencies helps solve a case,” Lamar County Sheriff Scott Cass said in a statement. “With this effort, another criminal has been taken off our streets and out of our neighborhoods.”
The case remains under investigation.