{"id":36512,"date":"2026-07-07T17:22:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=36512"},"modified":"2026-07-04T19:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T00:35:31","slug":"bemidji-man-faces-child-torture-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-faces-child-torture-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Faces Child Torture Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bemidji Man Faces Child Torture Charge<\/h2>\n

BEMIDJI, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me)<\/a> \u2014 Thomas Jay Drift Sr., 56, faces five felony charges in Beltrami County District Court.<\/p>\n

The charges follow a child protection investigation involving allegations from four children.<\/p>\n

Drift is charged with child torture. That charge carries a maximum 25-year sentence and a $35,000 fine.<\/p>\n

He also faces two third-degree assault charges involving an alleged pattern of child abuse.<\/p>\n

Additional charges allege methamphetamine exposure and domestic assault by strangulation.<\/p>\n

The alleged conduct occurred between June 30, 2023, and April 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

Children Describe Repeated Abuse<\/h2>\n

The complaint says the children described repeated beatings with hands and household objects.<\/p>\n

They reported injuries that included bruises, welts, burns, and breathing problems.<\/p>\n

One child alleged Drift struck her with a frying pan and its broken handle.<\/p>\n

Another alleged that he kicked her, pulled her hair, and threw hot coffee on her.<\/p>\n

A child also described two strangulation incidents. One alleged incident happened in January 2026.<\/p>\n

That child said she struggled to breathe and feared she would die.<\/p>\n

Drug Exposure Allegations<\/h2>\n

The complaint says children reported seeing suspected drugs, foil, and tubes inside the home.<\/p>\n

One child alleged Drift offered her drugs while he appeared intoxicated.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege he knowingly allowed children to encounter methamphetamine or related items.<\/p>\n

The filing also describes a deleted Facebook Messenger message sent to one child.<\/p>\n

Investigators interpreted the message as asking the children to remain quiet about alleged abuse.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the children were removed from Drift\u2019s care in March 2026.<\/p>\n

Court Case Remains Pending<\/h2>\n

The complaint lists court file 04-CR-26-1426 in Minnesota\u2019s Ninth Judicial District.<\/p>\n

Public case information may appear through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The charges cite Minnesota laws covering child torture<\/a> and third-degree assault<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other cited laws cover methamphetamine exposure<\/a> and domestic assault by strangulation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A criminal complaint contains allegations and does not prove guilt.<\/p>\n

Drift is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

TRF News will update this report as court information becomes available.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper, reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"Bemidji
Bemidji Man Faces Child Torture Charge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bemidji man faces five felonies after children alleged years of abuse, strangulation, drug exposure, and threats in Beltrami County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[1224,848,1122,772,960,151,10403],"class_list":["post-36512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-bemidji","tag-charge","tag-child","tag-crime","tag-faces","tag-man","tag-torture","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36514,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36512\/revisions\/36514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}