Austin C. Miller

When a Butler County judge shot down a man's plea deal in a rape case, it not only put his case back in the criminal justice system, but also led to a second woman coming forward.

A woman reading a Butler Eagle story about the rejected plea deal accused Austin Miller of raping her in 2016, according to prosecutors, leading police to contact the woman and file another sexual assault case against Miller.

Now in Butler County Prison for the new case, Miller came before District Judge Lewis Stoughton Tuesday for a preliminary hearing in the new case.

Through his public defender, Ryan Helsel, Miller asked to be released on house arrest, so that he can continue to work in Braddock. Stoughton denied the request, instead reducing his bond from $250,000 to $150,000.

Miller faces charges of unlawful contact with a minor, indecent exposure, corruption of minors and indecent assault. According to police documents, these charges stem from a sexual assault during a Halloween Party in 2016, only months after Miller was released on bail for the original case.

In that case, Miller is accused of raping a 14 and 15 year old in January 2016. Altogether, he was facing 10 felonies — including multiple counts of rape — and eight misdemeanors related to the incident.

But Miller worked out a plea deal with the District Attorney's office and, on Feb. 26, Miller pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors. During sentencing March 15, the mother of one of the victims requested county Judge William Shaffer reject the plea deal, which he did. Public defender Joseph Smith was assigned to the case.

“I'm waiting to get additional discovery from the commonwealth and review transcripts from sentencing before deciding what next steps to take,” Smith said. “I want to see what was said in the sentencing hearing. Obviously, we have to figure out where to go with the case, whether we'll have a trial. For me, it's still in its infancy.”

Meanwhile, the new charges against Miller are making their way up to county court.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope said that the victim in this new case came forward after reading the news report about Shaffer's plea rejection. Investigators discovered the woman's online claims and reached out to her.

After interviewing her, state police filed the charges against Miller. They report that the victim, who was 15 years old at the time, said Miller attended a Halloween party in October 2016 hosted by her older sister at a home in Concord Township.

When the victim went to her bedroom to go to sleep, police reports state, Miller entered her bedroom, got in bed with the victim and began to sexually assault her. He then allegedly used his forearms to hold the victim down, while the victim kept saying “no.” A guest at the party then walked into the room, causing Miller to leave and the victim to hide in her closet, police said.

During Tuesday's preliminary hearing, Stoughton pointed out that this incident allegedly happened after Miller was already charged with rape.

“What has my flags go up is that he was charged in January and then does this in (October),” Stoughton said. “That's scary.”