A school security official at an elite Boston school has been charged with the rape of a woman visiting from Ireland after police say they found her naked on the side of the road outside the Massachusetts State Police barracks on Martha’s Vineyard.
The suspect was allegedly a guest at the barracks visiting a state trooper friend from college, prosecutors said in court at his arraignment.
Edward Brown, 27, pleaded not guilty in connection with the alleged Aug. 15 attack, which prosecutors said took place inside the barracks.
He allegedly met the victim at The Ritz, a bar in Oak Bluffs â the upscale waterfront community where former President Barack Obama owns a home.
Police say they received two 911 calls around 1 a.m. and arrived to find a naked woman in distress. She said she had been approached by a man at the bar before blacking out.
Assistant District Attorney Courtney Scalice presented a graphic account of what happened in court, telling the judge the victim told investigators she had been followed around the bar by a Black man in a white hat, before she awoke face down and naked.
She told investigators he held her down despite her kicking and screaming. Eventually, she asked for water, and when her attacker left, she said she “ran for her life” out of the building.
She told police she ran down two flights of stairs and out of the building and had been on the road for a few minutes before someone stopped to help.
The responding Oak Bluffs police officers saw bruises on her legs and a red mark on her neck, Scalice said.
Brown had allegedly been staying at the barracks as a guest of a trooper stationed there for the summer. Prosecutors identified the trooper as Ryan Costello and said they found Brown with help from a bouncer at The Ritz, the bar where the victim allegedly met her attacker.
The bouncer didn’t know his name but knew he was friends with state troopers and had a photo. Oak Bluffs police sent the picture to Costello on Aug. 29, two weeks after the alleged assault, Scalice said. He identified the man shown as Brown and said they’d been friends since college.
Then on Sept. 11, Costello’s attorney gave investigators screenshots of a text conversation between the trooper and Brown, Scalice said.
“Prior to September 11, 2026, these messages had never been provided to any member of law enforcement investigating the alleged rape,” Scalice said.
Brown allegedly gave shifting accounts of the night to Costello, Scalice told the judge: First he denied bringing a female to the barracks, then he said she’d come inside but left on her own, and then he claimed he left her in the Uber and she never came in.
At one point, he allegedly texted Costello, “I’m at the barracks with this chick, is that okay?”
Costello, who prosecutors said was not there at the time, replied, “okay.” Brown then allegedly asked him where to find condoms and added, “Beers after I slam.”
Once detectives identified a suspect and obtained a search warrant for Brown’s Uber account, detectives also found a ride from about a half hour before the 911 calls.
“Officers interviewed the Uber driver who confirmed picking up a Black male matching the defendant’s description and a very young looking White female and driving them to the State Police barracks,” Scalice said. “The Uber driver described the female as appearing very intoxicated while the Black male was not.”
Brown is listed in jail records as 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 260 pounds. Prosecutors said that they learned from Boston police t
