County Attorney Accused Of Sex Crime Makes First Court Appearance

(KNSI) – The Benton County Attorney made his first court appearance on charges of criminal sexual conduct for allegedly molesting a teenage girl.

Philip Kent Miller made a remote appearance on Tuesday morning and waived time requirements for hearings. Conditions for release were set, and the 60-year-old is allowed to remain free without bail if he follows the court’s conditions. The Rice man could also post $20,000 without any restrictions. Part of the conditions for release includes having no unsupervised contact with a person under age 18.

Miller has been charged with 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of 4th-degree criminal sexual conduct.

According to the criminal complaint, in January, the St. Cloud Police Department was notified of a report of sexual assault that involved Miller and a 15-year-old girl. The complaint says the relationship between Miller and the teen met the definition of “significant relationship” and “current or position of authoritity.”

Court documents say in an interview on February 3; the girl explained the first incident happened after a bonfire in March of 2020 at her St. Cloud home, which is in Benton County. She told investigators she was watching TV in her bedroom when Miller came in. She said she pretended to be asleep as he touched her inappropriately underneath her clothing.

The teen says “one or two months” later, she was in her room, and she was either “asleep or was close to falling asleep” when Miller came into her room, removed the blankets, and again touched her inappropriately. She explained that she was wearing pajamas and tried to roll away from Miller to get him to stop, but “he pulled her back towards him and continued to grab her.” She told police she sat up, and Miller ducked down beside her bed, waited there for about a minute, and then got up and walked out.”

After that, she said she would lock herself in the bathroom at night and wait for Miller to fall asleep because he was often the last person awake. When she went to bed, she said she wrapped herself in multiple blankets, extra layers of clothing and created a pillow barrier around the edge of her bed to protect herself. She locked her door at night until Miller allegedly installed a door blocker to prevent her door from locking.

The case was investigated by the Minnesota Berua of Criminal Apprehension and assigned to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

A statement from Miller’s attorney says:

Mr. Miller staunchly denies the allegations and asserts his innocence. He provided a voluntary statement to the police and denied the allegations. As a veteran prosecutor, he respects the court process and has faith that the truth will come out and the public will see that these allegations are false.

Miller says he’s offered thousands of defendants due process of law and hopes that he is allowed the same. Attorney Katherine Claffy, with Groshek Law in Minneapolis, says the charges are only allegations, and they are not proof of any wrongdoing.

The prosecutor will now have to attempt to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a unanimous 12-person jury. Miller says he is confident that the state will fail in this endeavor, and he looks forward to his trial.