HELENA — New evidence stemming from the 1987 rape of an 8-year-old Billings girl points to a White Sulphur Springs man as a possible suspect.
Lee Newspapers of Montana reports 55-year-old Ronald Dwight Tipton has been ordered to appear in court Dec. 14 to face sexual assault charges.
The new DNA evidence comes after Jimmy Ray Bromgard wrongfully spent 15 years in prison for the crime. He was exonerated in 2002.
Billings police and prosecutors vowed to reopen the investigation after Bromgard’s release.
Police identified Tipton as a suspect in the case after he agreed to submit to DNA testing in 2014 as part of his suspended sentence in a drug-related case.
A man who answered the door at Tipton’s address said Thursday that Tipton didn’t want to discuss the charges.