LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A former duPont Manual High School teacher who was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of possessing child pornography has requested he be released about six weeks after being incarcerated.
An attorney for James Miller Jr. has asked Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Julie Kaelin to release Miller on “shock probation,” which allows low-risk offenders to be released between 30 and 180 days of their conviction, claiming they've been essentially "shocked straight" by the prison experience and learned their lesson.
Miller, who pleaded guilty in January to filming a minor, who was 10 years old at the time, while she was undressing in 2021, is still lodged in Metro Corrections awaiting transfer to a state prison.
“The jail is overcrowded, violent, and highly susceptible to Covid and other communicable disease outbreaks,” defense attorney Scott C. Cox wrote in his motion, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on Thursday. “Mr. Miler has never been incarcerated previously and has already learned valuable lessons from being incarcerated in Jefferson County Jail.”
And releasing Miller, who has no other criminal history, would allow him to get sex abuse treatment – which is currently unavailable for him in the jail – close to his home in Mississippi, far away from the victim in the case, said Cox.
Cox noted the victim’s mother has requested Miller not live in Kentucky or Indiana “to minimize the possibility” of any contact.
The judge will hear the motion on Monday.
A spokesman for the Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney's office said they will be objecting to the motion for early release.
Miller served as the Department Chair for the school's Journalism and Communication magnet and was a well-known local media critic.
Cox wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Miller was depressed and addicted to sex and alcohol when the crime was committed.
He said Miller wants to become a therapist so he can help others.
The victim's mother said during the January court hearing that her child suffers from anxiety and depression and this has "negatively impacted" every aspect of the family's life.
"Our futures are always altered by this," she said.
After his guilty plea, Miller said he deserved whatever sentence was given to him and that he "can't imagine the depths of betrayal and horror they (the victim and her family) must experience every single day. I feel intense shame and regret every day for the crime I committed."
Miller must also register as a sex offender.
During the Jan. 31 sentencing, Kaelin said it did not "make her happy" to send Miller to prison and noted that he had been "extremely aggressive in seeking treatment."
Before resigning from Jefferson County Public Schools in early 2022, Miller was the host of "From Classroom to Newsroom," a weekly radio show on WFMP about education and journalism. He also served as a media critic for both Insider Louisville and WFPL.
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