Bend Rape Suspect Pleads Not Guilty
A Bend man arrested in late February on rape and other charges entered not-guilty pleas Monday morning and a trial was set for fall.
A 2-week trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 18 for Thomas Harry Bray, 37, a part-time COCC instructor accused of raping a 23-year-old woman he met downtown for a drink, then brought to his apartment.
The woman told police she met Bray, then a resident of Franklin Crossing, through a computer dating site and agreed to meet him in downtown Bend for a cocktail.
After one drink, the woman said she accompanied Bray back to his apartment, and told police she was forced to have intercourse and perform other sexual acts over the next few hours.
Bray was arrested on two counts each of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy, along with fourth-degree assault, menacing and strangulation. He was released from jail after his arrest, after posting 10 percent of his $407,500 bail.
Bray stood silent in court as his attorney, Stephen Houze, entered the pleas and requested a trial be set.
Houze and the district attorney’s office plan on filing a joint settlement motion. However, both say there’s no indication the case will be settled before going to trial.
In March, a judge granted Bray permission to move to Portland and live with his brother, but denied his request to move to Los Angeles, to live with his parents. He’s required to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, surrender his passport and not possess or consume alcohol.
