Man jailed in possible sex assaults on teens

Body piercings in exchange for sex.

That’s the deal Colorado Springs police say a 35-yearold man working at a piercing shop offered to teenage girls as young as 14.

Reports of sexual assaults on at least two underage girls led to the arrest Thursday of Michael Miller of Denver after a two-year investigation.

“We are assuming there are a whole lot more victims out there,” said detective Clay Blackwell of the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.

Police are seeking other possible victims or parents who suspect their child received an illegal piercing from Miller, who has a large raised star on his forehead.

Blackwell said Miller worked at Eternal 7s Tattoo and Piercing, a shop formerly at 5927 N. Academy Blvd., where he was known as “Iguana Mike.”

According to the arrest affidavit, the investigation began in April 2005 when a student reported a sexual assault to to a Doherty High School police resource officer.

The student said Miller told teenage girls, some 14 and 15 years old, that they could get their piercings free and without parental consent if they had sex with him.

She said an underage friend at Lewis Palmer High School told her she had “messed around with Mike” for piercings.

Another girl said she was 15 when she met Miller through MySpace.com.

He used the screen name “iguanamike2” in instant-message conversations, police said.

She told police he picked her up from a group meeting at New Life Church and drove her to the shop. She told police she refused his request that she perform oral sex on him.

She said he forced her to have anal sex for 30 minutes, then acted as though “nothing had happened” and “calmly” pierced her tongue.

The warrant states the shop closed in October 2005.

The owner was not charged, Blackwell said. “He didn’t know anything about it,” Blackwell said. “It wasn’t related to the shop, but he (Miller) was sneaking them in after hours.”

Blackwell said the case took two years because of a lack of reliable information about Miller, who moved to the Denver area.

“Initially, there wasn’t enough to be able to identify him — all we had was ‘Mike.’ We couldn’t proceed,” he said.

Blackwell said a recent girl’s account was “more astute,” and a warrant was issued on April 20 for Miller.

Miller is in El Paso County jail on felony charges of suspicion of inducement of child prostitution, sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact. Bail was set at $25,000.

Anyone with information should contact Blackwell at 444-7532.