A Montana State Fair carnival worker has been arrested in connection to a 2017 sexual assault.
Lyle Oka made his initial appearance for one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
In July of 2017, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office responded to Benefis Health System for a report of a sexual assault, according to court documents.
The 18-year old-victim told the deputy she had attended the Montana State Fair the night before.
She began talking to a carnival worker, later identified as Joshua Senaright, who was operating the bag toss booth.
When the fair was about to close for the night, Senaright asked the victim if she wanted to have a drink with him at his camper and she agreed.
The victim said she remembers another carnival worker making drinks for everyone and that he gave her one.
Court documents state the next thing the victim remembers is waking up in the trailer the next morning. She was not wearing pants and she felt out of it.
According to court documents, the victim said she believed she was “drugged.” She also stated she did not remember any sexual activity, but she could tell something had happened.
The victim believed the person who assaulted her was the operator of the bottle breaking booth, which officers identified as Lyle Oka.
The deputy made contact with Oka and he denied having any contact with any women on the night of the assault.
Court documents state Oka changed his story and told the deputy Senaright had brought a girl over to the bunkhouse. Oka said he did not feel like drinking so he left the area to go to bed.
He then told the deputy the victim had woken him up around three or four in the morning asking to sleep in his bed. Oka claims he slept on a chair for the rest of the night and denied having sexual contact with the victim.
He provided deputies with a DNA sample, which was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab for analysis.
The results showed Oka’s DNA matched the DNA sample from the victim.
Oka is being held on a $60,000 bond.
Story by Margaret DeMarco, MTN News
