Two Massachusetts State Police troopers were suspended with pay pending an investigation into a sexual assault that allegedly occurred this summer at the State Police barracks on Martha’s Vineyard, where the accused rapist was visiting a trooper friend, officials said.
State Police leaders have also issued a directive prohibiting overnight guests in housing used by seasonal troopers on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, an agency spokesperson said in a statement late Thursday night.
The suspended troopers are Ryan T. Costello and Robert Branca. State Police provided few details about their connection to the incident, but both were assigned to Martha’s Vineyard at the time of the alleged rape.
“As soon as I was briefed on these appalling allegations, we have taken swift action,” State Police Superintendent Colonel Geoffrey Noble said in an interview Friday. “I will not stop — this department will not stop — until we have a complete picture of what occurred.”
A longtime trooper stationed on the Vineyard, Branca graduated from the State Police academy in 2005 and worked in the agency’s Division of Field Services for the entirety of his career, officials said. He was assigned to the Oak Bluffs barracks until Thursday. He earned $182,000 in 2025, according to state payroll records.
Costello graduated from the academy in 2022 and was also assigned to field services. He earned $136,000 last year.
Officials said Costello was on a temporary duty assignment to the Oak Bluffs barracks this summer until Sept. 5. They said he was relieved of duty on Sept. 26 and placed on administrative leave the following day. He was then placed on restricted duty Oct. 1 and ultimately suspended with pay.
The Cape and Islands district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to clarify the role of the troopers, but said the State Police internal affairs division had been cooperative with its investigation.
According to prosecutors, Costello hosted Edward J. Brown at the barracks in August.
Branca, according to Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan Searle and prosecutors, responded to Temahigan Avenue when the victim “ran for her life” after being raped. The barracks are at 51 Temahigan Ave.
When Branca arrived, the victim was in a black SUV operated by a good Samaritan, a woman. He told her to drive the victim to the nearby Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, where she was met by medical staff and Oak Bluffs police, according to law enforcement.
Brown, a Boston Public Schools safety official, has been charged with rape. He told investigators he was staying at the barracks with a friend (later identified as Costello) during the weekend of the alleged assault. Brown is now on leave from his job.
The State Police Association of Massachusetts, the union that represents troopers, could not be reached for comment.
The alleged assault occurred in temporary housing for troopers assigned to the island for the summer season that is “in a structure separate and apart from the barracks,” a State Police spokesperson said.
Along with prohibiting overnight guests, Noble has ordered that visitors to nonpublic areas of the barracks must get written approval from the barracks commander and must be accompanied at all times, the spokesperson said.
Brown, 27, was arrested Oct. 9 at Boston Latin Academy in Boston. He pleaded not guilty to rape at his arraignment in Edgartown District Court. He is free on $10,000 bail.
According to prosecutors, Brown and the woman met the night of Aug. 14 at the Ritz Cafe in Oak Bluffs. They took an Uber to the barracks. While the woman appeared heavily intoxicated, Brown did not, according to the Uber driver’s statement to police.
The woman later told investigators she awoke in an unfamiliar place. As she tried to get up, Brown allegedly held her by the neck and raped her while “she was kicking and screaming,” prosecutors have said.
She made her getaway and “ran for her life” when she asked Brown to bring her water, prosecutors said.
Noble said Friday that his agency is supporting and cooperating with the DA’s investigation.
“At the same time, we will be doing everything we can internally to uncover what happened, what were the circumstances for this,” he said. “My statement to the public is that this department will do whatever it takes … to hold people accountable and to ensure that this does not ever happen again.”
Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this story misstated the year Trooper Costello graduated from the academy. The Globe regrets the error.
This story has been updated.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez. John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe. Lea Skene can be reached at lea.skene@globe.com. Follow her on X @lea_skene.