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Kidnapping suspect charged
Published 12:00 p.m., March 11, 2009
David Sabby sat with his shoulders hunched, head down, as an Otter Tail County District Court judge read aloud the 10 criminal charges against him.
The 46-year-old Elbow Lake man appeared in court Tuesday morning, accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl last weekend. The charges against him include two counts of kidnapping; six charges of criminal sexual conduct, two of them in the first degree; tampering with a witness; and violation of an order for protection.
“The charges in this case are serious,” said Sabby’s attorney, Kent Marshall. “We understand that. They are allegations.”
In setting bail at $750,000 cash or bond, Judge Waldemar Senyk called the behavior described in the complaint against Sabby “extreme and very violent.” Bail is $400,000 if Sabby agrees to conditions including daily electronic monitoring and making no contact with the alleged victim.
Senyk also signed a no-contact order with the girl, Sabby’s third such order. Sabby is facing criminal charges in Grant County for an earlier alleged assault against the victim.
A criminal complaint filed in Otter Tail County Tuesday alleges Sabby approached the 17-year-old girl and her half-brother, Derek Allan Gilpin, 26, at gunpoint in the parking lot outside WestRidge Theater around 7 p.m. Saturday. According to the girl, Sabby opened the door of the vehicle she was in, held a semi-automatic handgun to her side and threatened to shoot her if she screamed.
The victim said Sabby covered her mouth and bound her hands with duct tape. She said she witnessed Sabby tape Gilpin as well.
According to the complaint, the victim was taken to a vacant cabin east of Swan Lake, where Sabby allegedly assaulted her. Sabby eventually agreed to release the girl and gave her the keys to his truck, which she drove to a Fergus Falls gas station. From there she called authorities around 1 a.m. Sunday.
Shortly after, police traced a phone call from Sabby to the Swan Lake cabin and arrived to find the structure engulfed in flames. The scene is under investigation by the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office.
Gilpin, a Georgia resident who’s lived in Elbow Lake the past two months, initially denied any involvement in Sabby’s arrival at the theater. Later, however, he admitted to texting Sabby as he and the girl traveled within Fergus Falls.
According to a criminal complaint against him, Gilpin said he helped arrange a meeting between the two upon a request from Sabby, who wanted to speak with the girl regarding the Grant County charges. Gilpin said he was surprised to see Sabby with a gun and did not expect the situation to turn out as it did.
Gilpin was charged this week with false imprisonment, tampering with a witness and violation of an order for protection. Bail was set at $40,000 bond Tuesday.
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