Aplington man convicted of burglary, assault in Kalona

A 23-year-old Aplington man arrested in September after police said he entered the bedroom of a Kalona woman in September with a rifle, camera and a roll of tape has been convicted of first-degree burglary and assault with intent to commit sex abuse.

Dallas J. Miller is scheduled to be sentenced on the charges June 18. He could face up to 25 years in prison on the burglary charge and up to five years in prison on the assault charge.

A jury returned the verdict Friday in a Johnson County courtroom, and Miller was taken into custody pending his sentencing.

Jurors heard testimony during the week-long trial about how Miller entered the bedroom of a Kalona woman about 2:20 a.m. Sept. 8 with materials that investigators suspect he was going to use to sexually assault the victim.

He then broke off the door knob so other family members couldn't enter the room, according to the police, and he put his hands over the woman's mouth so she couldn't scream. The woman managed a scream and alert her family, however, and investigators said Miller fled out a window.

When deputies responded a few minutes later, they saw Miller's pickup truck parked about 100 yards from the house. They found the rifle outside the woman's door and black tape and a camera inside her bedroom, deputies reported.

Miller knew the victim, according to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office.