Niles man faces rape and kidnapping charges

WARREN — A 48-year-old Niles faces rape and kidnapping charges for allegedly committing the same type of assault that he did to another victim about 30 years ago.

A Trumbull County grand jury last week secretly indicted William R. Miller of Cherry Avenue on charges stemming from an alleged assault at 2:30 a.m. Feb. 8 on a railroad access road on Old Salt Springs Road in Weathersfield Township.

Joseph Consiglio, township police chief, said a woman went to the Niles Police Department later that morning to report the assault after she escaped from Miller.

She said she left a Warren tavern with Miller, who threatened her with a knife and sexually assaulted her.

Afterward, her car got stuck in a ditch. A passer-by helped Miller push the car out of the ditch, Consiglio said. When the vehicle came out of the ditch, the woman drove off without Miller and went to the police station.

Miller was convicted of a similar offense occurring at the same location about 30 years earlier and spent 25 years in prison for the crime, Consiglio said.

Miller pleaded innocent to the latest charges in common pleas court. Each charge carries with it a specification that he is a repeat violent offender.

If convicted, Miller could get more than 20 years in prison. He is in the county jail on a $500,000 bond.