Man Arraigned On Decades-Old Incest, Rape Charges In Superior Court
David Creed •
A former island resident was arraigned on decades-old sexual assault charges in Nantucket Superior Court early Friday afternoon accusing him of rape and incest. A second individual, who is a current island resident, was also scheduled to be arraigned on Friday but had the arraignment pushed to September so he could hire an attorney. He is facing sex trafficking and rape charges. Both indictments were returned against the two men by a Nantucket grand jury on June 23rd.
Bryan F. King, 77, was arraigned and is facing one charge of aggravated rape of a child (more than a five-year age difference) and incest. King pleaded not guilty to both charges and was ordered to return to court on September 23rd for a pretrial conference.
The Cape & Island’s District Attorney’s Office did not request cash bail but asked Nantucket Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone to implement the condition that King stay away and have no contact with the alleged victim, which she allowed.
Very little information was revealed about the nature of the incident, other than that it allegedly took place in 1979. The alleged victim – as well as a pair of witnesses from the Nantucket Police Department – apparently testified to the grand jury, according to assistant district attorney Michael Preble. Preble added that King and the alleged victim have not been in contact “for many years,” which played a factor in the DA's office not requesting cash bail on top of the alleged incident taking place decades ago.
Preble said King has not lived in Massachusetts since 1998. King’s attorney, Jim Merberg, said he plans to argue a motion to dismiss but needs the minutes from the grand jury testimony before doing so, which Preble said he hopes will be available this month. These minutes are not public record and will not be available for the press when they are ready. The next court date will be a deliberation of whether this case falls within the statute of limitations.
The other arraignment scheduled for Friday was Kedrick Pleasant, 48, who is facing charges of rape, indecent assault and battery on a person 60 years or older, indecent assault & battery on a person 14 or over, trafficking a person for sexual servitude, and paying for sexual conduct following the June 23rd indictment by the Nantucket grand jury.
Pleasant was given the option to have his arraignment pushed back to a later date in order for a lawyer to be present for the session. He accepted the offer and had his arraignment scheduled for September 23rd at 10:30 a.m.
The Current reached out to the DA’s office seeking more information on both cases however the media contact, Danielle Whitney, said that the office was unable to provide any additional information.
“Both the matters in which you are inquiring about are pending cases so I am unable to comment at this time,” she said.