Remembering the fallen

Officers from the Powell County Sheriff’s Office as well as those from the Deer Lodge Police Department and other agencies were among those that came to the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service on May 15. Blue roses were worn by all to show support and one Montana officer was added to the Memorial Wall. See story page 23.

Child rapist sentenced to 300 years MSP

PictureCharles Byrne
by Michael Stafford

“Your honor, there are lines we don’t cross. Society doesn’t have many of them that they demand such high consequences - murder, slavery, sexually assaulting a child,” said deputy county attorney Patrick Moody as he started.
And he finished with saying, “Your honor, there are lines we don’t cross and Mr. Byrne doesn’t believe those lines exist.”
Moody said that during his argument for sentencing against Charles Michael Byrne (age 45 of Deer Lodge) who was convicted at jury trial of three counts of felony sexual intercourse without consent with a person younger than 12 years old.
“Put him in there for the rest of his life. I don’t make that recommendation lightly,” said the attorney.
After hearing testimony from many including that from previous victims of Byrne, the family of the victim and a statement from the victim herself, Judge Ray J. Dayton sentenced Byrne to 100 years at Montana State Prison for each of the three counts to run consecutively (totaling 300 years) with a parole restriction for 50 years. Should Byrne qualify for parole he will be age 95 when he is released on conditions and if he completes phase two of sexual offender treatment where he must admit to what he is convicted of.
“You’re going to be basically doing the balance of your life in prison,” said the judge calling the defendant a dangerous man from whom society should be protected.
In December Byrne was tried by a 12 person jury for the three charges against him. Those three charges stemmed from incidents over the course of 2010 and 2011 when he sexually molested a girl who was only six or seven at the time. According to court documents, the report of the incidents was first made by the victim when she was 13 in 2017. Two of the incidents took place in the house of the defendant while the third took place in the house of the victim’s family. Byrne and his family were close friends with the family of the victim.
see Parole page 21

Student drug testing policy moves forward

by Michael Stafford

The Powell County High School Board is moving forward with adopting a drug testing policy for students involved in extracurricular activities.
They will not vote on the proposed policy until their June meeting, but they did read over the proposed draft and noted some changes and references they would like to see included.
Additionally a large contingent of parents and students came to the meeting. While only a couple indicated they wished to speak, it was apparent that all the attendees there were in favor of implementing such a policy at the school.
Introducing the topic, Superintendent Rick Duncan stated that the board has been working on this policy for the past eight or nine months and there have been many committees of staff, parents, coaches and students that have contributed input to it. He also noted that he has had legal counsel review the draft and before the board is the culmination of those efforts.
Board chair Mo Mannix asked Duncan whether he had a recommendation to which he replied that the board will have to vote on it and he will try to find the funding in the budget to pay for it. A motion for it was made and seconded.
see Board page eight

Plenty going on at the Kohrs Memorial Library

by Michael Stafford

At the William Kohrs Memorial Library in Deer Lodge there are a number of programs going on for children and before long the summer reading program will get underway.
There’s also a new ordering system for the fiction for young readers that can help them find the stories they want to read a little easier.
Head librarian Cindy Grieshaber explained about the change as well as the programs for youth and the selection of books for all ages that is regularly updated. She started out with the project that took place in the children’s area downstairs.
“All of our juvenile and young adult fiction, we’ve changed it so it’s ordered by genre,” she said, “they can browse through the books they are most interested in. It makes it easier for them to find the things they want to read.”
Previously the fiction section had been ordered in alphabetical order throughout. A youth who may enjoy science fiction or sports stories would have to know the specific author they were looking for and may not as easily discover a new author in the same genre they had not known about. Now, with the new system they can be right in the section they desire and discover what other works of fiction are available.
see Many page eight
More on this and the other issues grabbing this week's headlines
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