Suspect accused in Dane Co. bike path sexual assault pleads not guilty

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The man accused of sexually assaulting a woman on a Dane County bike path pleaded not guilty Tuesday, according to court records.

Richard Cunningham Jr., 42, appeared in Dane County Circuit Court for his arraignment. Cunningham stood mute while the plea was entered for him, records indicate.

Cunningham is charged with alleged second-degree sexual assault- use of force, strangulation and suffocation, and felony bail jumping. His cash bond was previously set at $250,000.

A status conference was scheduled for July 25.

In a criminal complaint, it stated detectives collected a recently lit cigarette from the scene the day of the March attack. The cigarette and a sexual assault kit was sent to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory for testing, which indicated that one of the items submitted for the case came back with a DNA link to Cunningham.

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office previously noted he was out on bail for a prior sexual assault arrest.

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