Benton County Attorney Charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct

(KNSI) – The Benton County Attorney has been charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct following allegations he sexually assaulted a child under the age of 16.

According to the criminal complaint, in January, the St. Cloud Police Department was notified of a report of sexual assault that involved 60-year-old Philip 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, 2021, 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.

Other people in the home were interviewed, and court documents say the teen told them similar accounts of both incidents. Her mother recalled several times her daughter being locked in the bathroom late at night and was more withdrawn in the past year. Siblings said the girl would try and avoid Miller and her personality seemed different. One said she would even recoil when Miller tried hugging her. Another said the girl would look at the ground when Miller spoke to her.

Investigators spoke with a friend of the girl, who said in September of 2020, she gave her a similar account of what happened with Miller.

Miller was interviewed by police and said he did go into the girl’s room, but it was to turn off the TV. He said he would sometimes have to look for the remote, which he recalled was on the floor, on the blankets, or sometimes under the blankets, which he would have to lift to find the remote.

Miller denied ever groping the victim or touching her sexually. According to the complaint, Miller installed the door blocker at the mother’s request; however, when investigators asked the mother, she stated she did not tell Miller to install the door blocker.

Miller’s first court appearance is scheduled for August 18. The case was investigated by the Minnesota Berua of Criminal Apprehension and assigned to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.

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.

KNSI News Director Jennifer Lewerenz contributed to this story.

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