Judge rejects plea deal in child rape case
A mother's wish was granted Friday when a judge rejected a plea deal brokered between prosecutors and a Center Township man accused of raping a 14- and 15-year-old in 2016.
“Nothing could prepare you for your 15-year-old daughter telling you she was raped by a grown man,” said the mother of one of the teenagers, who accused Austin Chalmers Miller, 24, of raping them in the home of one of the victims.
Miller was initially charged with 10 felonies — including multiple counts of rape — and eight misdemeanors related to the incident.
Miller and his lawyer, Michael Zunder, were able to work a plea deal out with the district attorney's office and, on Feb. 26, Miller pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors.
With the rejection, Miller will now go through the legal process again, and all of his original charges are again active.
This is an excerpt — read more about the case in Sunday's Butler Eagle.
