Woman accusing Pastor John-Paul Miller of assault speaks out after his release from jail
A woman who says she was assaulted by Pastor John-Paul Miller of Solid Rock at Market Common church in South Carolina as she protested with a group seeking justice surrounding the passing of his late wife by suicide is now speaking out after he was released from jail last Thursday.
Police in Myrtle Beach charged the 45-year-old Miller with third-degree assault and battery months after the suicide of his wife, Mica Miller, last Wednesday. And Sandra Caron alleged to WMBF that she was his victim.
Caron said she was with a group of women protesting on the Horry-Georgetown Technical College's campus in The Market Common last Wednesday when Miller came up behind them and began recording. She said she did not realize it was him at first, but once she did, things got testy.
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She alleges she put her hand behind her back, and Miller tapped her baseball cap with his phone.
"He's this close to me, and he says, 'You called?' And I said, 'OK, but you're in my...' And he goes, 'What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it?' Twice," Caron said.
The dispute was captured on video. Miller's attorney, Russell Long, shared it with WMBF. He said the protestors who want him held criminally responsible for his late wife's suicide have been "baiting him to do something" and "trying their best to drive him crazy." Authorities ruled Mica Miller's death a suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound and have not implicated her husband in her death.
"The bigger problem is this group of people won't leave him alone," Long said. "They will not. They've driven the church to death, and they're trying to drive him to death. And begging the city to help, they won't do anything for him. He has nowhere to turn."
Miller's arrest comes less than a week after the FBI conducted "court-authorized law enforcement activity" at a home connected to Miller, an FBI spokesperson told WPDE. Multiple boxes of evidence, including what appeared to be computer equipment, were seized, News13 said.
Court records previously reported by The Christian Post show that Mica Miller filed for divorce from her husband in October 2023, but the reasons were not stated.
The case was eventually dismissed in February, but a few days later, Pastor Miller filed for "Separate Support and Maintenance," seeking financial support. Mica Miller would file for similar support in April. A hearing was scheduled for June 5. On April 27, two days after she served her husband with divorce papers, Mica Miller was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her head in Lumber River State Park in Orrum, North Carolina.
In a sworn affidavit shared on X by Protestia and filed as part of her application to serve as special administrator for her sister's estate, Sierra Francis said Mica Miller had served her husband with divorce papers on April 25 and was looking forward to being free of him.
"My sister was hopeful for her future after filing for divorce from John-Paul," Francis wrote in the affidavit.
"My sister also expressed to me that she was fearful that she would not make it to the divorce and that her life would be taken from her. It is my belief, based on conversations with my sister, that she told multiple people, including other family members," she explained.
"Mica stated to me on many occasions, 'if I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, it was JP.' Mica forwarded a family group text message notifying us that Mr. Miller was served the divorce papers on April 25, 2024," Francis added. "On April 27, 2024, my sister, Mica A. Miller, was found dead as a result of a gunshot wound in Lumberton, North Carolina."
Pastor Miller's bond is set at $776, and he is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 10.
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