Bail set set at $60,000 for Tisbury man charged with rape

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Judge C.J. Moriarty set bail at $60,000 for David L. Thrift Jr., during a September 7 hearing in Dukes County Superior Court. The court arraigned Mr. Thrift on a 10-count indictment charging him with rape of a child with force, aggravated rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, three charges of assault, two charges of intimidation of a witness, and violation of a restraining order.

Mr. Thrift remains in custody at the Dukes County Jail awaiting his next court appearance.

Following his arrest on July 24, an Edgartown District Court judge ordered Mr. Thrift held without bail.

The charges stem from a July 23 incident, when Tisbury police responded to a call for a domestic disturbance at 194 Spring Street.

According to the police report, Mr. Thrift, 29, assaulted his wife after she found him sexually molesting the couple’s 15-year-old babysitter, as their three young children slept on a pullout couch in the living room.

As police were searching for Mr. Thrift, he returned to the house where the babysitter remained inside with the three children and raped the young woman despite the presence of his three children, according to the police report.

The officer in charge that night, Sgt. Robert Fiske, was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, according to Tisbury town administrator John Bugbee.