There were 1,098 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 468,412 in the last 365 days.

Deer Lodge man found guilty at retrial for sexual assault of a minor">Deer Lodge man found guilty at retrial for sexual assault of a minor HELENA – A Deer Lodge man was found guilty today for sexually assaulting a minor in Powell County District Court,…

HELENA – A Deer Lodge man was found guilty today for sexually assaulting a minor in Powell County District Court, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced.

The jury unanimously convicted Charles Michael Byrne, 51, of three counts of sexual intercourse without consent following a four-day jury trial. Byrne was found guilty of sexually assaulting a minor girl three separate times between 2010 and 2016. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Byrne was previously sentenced to three consecutive 100-year sentences in 2019 after a jury found him guilty of the same crime. However, the Montana Supreme Court overturned that conviction necessitating a retrial.

Assistant Attorneys General Meghann Paddock and Patrick Moody prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Powell County Sheriff’s Office.