The police who conducted groundbreaking DNA tests on the male population of a small Australian town said on Tuesday a man had been charged for the brutal sexual assault on a 91-year-old woman. Stephen James Boney, a 44-year-old farm labourer, has been charged with aggravated sexual assault and breaking and entering. He appeared in the local magistrate's court on Tuesday, where he was denied bail.The police decided on the DNA tests, in which saliva was taken by mouth swabs, as frustration grew over the lack of progress in the 15-month hunt for the man who attacked and sexually assaulted the 91-year-old.The police refused to say whether Boney had taken a DNA test during the town-wide sweep, but confirmed that he had been tested during questioning. The police said Boney had given himself up, and the latter made no plea during a three-minute court appearance, in which he was charged with breaking into the home of Rita Knight early on New Year's Day, 1999, aggravated sexual assault and inflicting bodily harm. He was remanded to reappear on May 15.Knight, now 93, was battered in the attack that, the police believe, was meant to kill her.
