Wyo. Man Charged in Sex Crimes Being Held Without Bond

BILLINGS, Mont. – A 58-year-old Wyoming man accused of rape and other sex crimes against children in that state starting three decades ago is being held in the Yellowstone County jail in Billings.

Marvin Lynn Tilley, who is reported to have lived in Casper, and Greeley, Colo. as he avoided prosecution, is charged with six felony sex offenses in Big Horn County, Wyo. Authorities say he sexually assaulted three juveniles between the mid-1970s and early 1981.

Tilley was arrested in Yellowstone County on a Wyoming warrant Sept. 13, Sheriff Jay Bell said.

It was unclear how long Tilley had been in the Billings area before his arrest. He is being held in the county jail without bond.

On Aug. 16, Tilley was injured in a car wreck in Douglas, Wyo.

He was admitted to a hospital in Casper, where he was treated for three broken bones in his neck. Wyoming law enforcement authorities were prepared to arrest Tilley when he was released from the hospital, but Tilley sneaked out without the knowledge of hospital staff, the Billings Gazette reported Sunday.

Tilley, who has declined to waive extradition back to Wyoming, appeared last week in Yellowstone County Justice Court.

He is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of first-degree rape and three counts of immoral acts with a child.

Wyoming prosecutors said the sexual assault charges happened between the late winter months of 1980 and early spring months of 1981, and the alleged victim is identified as a female born in 1963.

Two of the charges involve a second female born in 1965 and allege offenses that occurred in 1976. The remaining two counts involve a third female born in 1966. Those charges allege offenses against the girl during the summer of 1974 or 1975.

All of the alleged crimes occurred in Deaver, a town northwest of Lovell, according to the court records.

Court records filed in Yellowstone County indicate Tilley, whose last known address was in Deaver, had been a fugitive since July.

Tilley had agreed to turn himself in to authorities in early August, the court records state, but he failed to show up as arranged.

A Big Horn County prosecutor handling the Tilley case was not immediately available.