Peabody man accused of rape out on $7,500 bail

SALEM – A Superior Court judge allowed a Peabody man, accused of raping a 15-year-old girl, to go home on $7,500 cash, but ordered him to have no contact with his accuser and to be monitored by GPS monitoring system.Robert Bank, 18, of 9 Hamilton Road, Peabody, appeared for his arraignment answering not guilty to a charge of statutory rape, a crime that carries a potential life sentence in state prison.As jointly recommended by the prosecution and defense, Judge David A. Lowy set the same bail amount with the same conditions as previously set earlier in district court and continued the case to April 14.The charge stems from an incident in Danvers involving the sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old girl in her bedroom.According to reports, Banks had gone to the victim’s home with a friend on Sept. 18 and apparently engaged in forceful intercourse with the teen.The victim reported the incident to her friend and then police.Assistant District Attorney Marsha H. Slingerland is prosecuting the case for the commonwealth and Michael T. Phelan of Lynn is his defense lawyer.