Brayden James Pond has pleaded guilty to two felony charges in a serial rape case involving five teenage victims.
According to court documents, Pond withdrew a former plea of not guilty on Thursday and agreed to a plea deal where he admitted to guilt in two of the initial five felony rape charges against him.
In 2018, prosecutors filed the charges against Pond for one incident in 2016 and four more spanning from February 2017 to May 2017. Pond was 17 years old at the time but he was charged as an adult.
In early December, Yellowstone County prosecutors amended the rape charges against Pond.
The allegations were reported in January 2018 when the Skyview High School Resource Officer contacted a Billings police sergeant and the Billings West High School Resource Officer about the sexual assault complaints against Pond.
Pond was a student at Skyview High School and played running back for the school's football team. He recently transferred to Billings Senior High School in May.
Each charge is a felony and carries four to 100 years in prison. Each count also carries a fine of $50,000. His sentencing is set for April 20, according to prosecutors. He remains free pending the conclusion of the case.
(AUGUST 27, 2018) New details have been released about Brayden Pond, a 17-year-old Billings High School student facing five rape charges.
Pond has yet to be seen in front of a Yellowstone County judge to face five felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent. No bond has been set, and he has not been booked into jail.
According to court documents filed in Yellowstone County District Court, Pond is accused of raping four teenage girls during separate incidents between February 2017 and May 2017.
Pond is also accused of raping a 14-year old girl in 2016 and then again in the summer of 2017. Prosecutors say the victims were incapable of giving consent at the time of the offense.
All the crimes occurred in Billings and all were investigated by the Billings Police Department with the assistance of the Billings Skyview School Resource Officer.
In January 2018, the Skyview High School Resource Officer contacted a Billings police sergeant and the Billings West High School Resource Officer about several sexual assault complaints concerning Pond.
According to the charging documents in November 2017, a parent called Billings police to investigate a rape complaint made by the parent’s 14-year-old daughter. The victim told police she was forced into having sex with Pond the Walmart Parking lot in February 2017. Documents say the teens consumed alcohol and the victim told police Pond wouldn’t allow anyone to go home until “someone gave him oral sex.”
In April 2018, a 17-year-old girl reported to the Skyview School Resource Officer that she was raped by Pond at a house party. She said Pond brought her to a downstairs bedroom, locked the door and started to assault her. When she tried to push him off, the victim told police she couldn’t because he was bigger than her.
In May 2018, a 16-year-old girl reported she was raped by Pond in his truck at the Skyview High school parking lot. She told police she started to push Pond off of her but then “blacked out.”
A fourth female victim reported an alleged rape to a Yellowstone County sheriff’s deputy that also occurred in May 2018. The victim reported being raped in the backseat of Pond’s truck while going in and out of consciousness. She remembered Pond placing his hand over her mouth while holding her wrists and telling her “no one is going to know about this.”
Between June and July 2017, a fifth female victim reported to police and her school resource officer that she was assaulted by Pond in a vehicle in the Walmart parking lot. The victim reported striking Pond in the face with her cell phone when he refused to let her get out of his truck, she says that is when a friend came to her aid and helped her out of the vehicle.
That same victim also reported being raped by Pond in April 2016 while parked in his truck in an open field in Billings.
Pond was a student at Skyview High School and played running back for Billings Skyview’s football team two years ago. He recently transferred to Billings Senior High School in May. However, he was not on that roster for Senior’s first Friday night game against Glacier High School on Aug.24.
Each charge is a felony and carries four to 100 years in prison. Each count also carries a fine of $50,000.
Pond will make an arraignment appearance on September 4. Due to Pond’s age, there could be a transfer hearing to juvenile court in the case. That hearing is tentatively scheduled for September 13 in Yellowstone County.
