Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Reginald Wayne Miller, president of Cathedral Bible Cathedral College, accusing him of forced labour for treating foreign pupils as slaves by compelling them to work for little to no pay.
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Additionally, an affidavit was filed with the complaint that “described a pervasive climate of fear in which their legal status as non-immigrant students was in constant jeopardy, at the sole discretion of Miller, who threatened expulsion and therefore termination of their legal presence in the United States for noncompliance with his demands.”
According to students, the classes at the school were staged so that they could be made to work for more than 20 hours each week in order to retain their student visas. Allegedly, the students were made to live in substandard conditions without heaters, air conditioning or hot water even. While most of the students received no salary for working up to 50 hours a week, others who were promised $100 each week were paid only $50 each week for 40 hours of work.
During an appearance at Florence Federal Court House on May 23, a federal judge set bail for the accused at $250,000 and ordered Miller to stay away from Cathedral Bible College as well as its students. If convicted, the former pastor could spend up to 20 years in jail.
In 2006, Miller was arrested on charges of lewdness and prostitution after he was caught by an undercover officer in a bathhouse at Myrtle Beach State Park. According to sources, Miller participated in a pretrial intervention program to ensure the record was expunged.
