This week, a former Miller Middle School teacher plead guilty to assaulting a student and received a deferred judgment and 1 year of probation. 61-year-old, Paul Philip Miller, of Boone, was in Marshall County Court on Tuesday when he received his sentence. He was charged with assault causing bodily injury or mental illness, a serious misdemeanor, which stems from an incident in February of 2024.

According to a criminal complaint, a 13-year-old male student reported that Miller became angry with him for moving his desk and shoved the desk against the student’s stomach, pinning him against the wall. The student told authorities that Miller slapped him in the face, and when Miller was questioned about it by school administrators he admitted to the assault.

Miller has completed a court-approved course on assaultive behavior through DMACC and his sentence has been updated to a $430 fine.

Zach Tomesch, News Director KFJB