Crime

Former Winthrop police officer arraigned on additional child sexual abuse charges

James Feeley was arrested on several charges, including child rape and indecent assault and battery of a child, in December.

James Feeley was arraigned on additional child sexual abuse charges Thursday, the district attorney's office said. WCVB

By Emily Spatz

2 minutes to read

A former Winthrop police lieutenant who was arrested last year after allegedly confessing to sexually assaulting a child was arraigned Thursday on eight additional counts of child rape and assault, according to the district attorney’s office. 

James Feeley, 56, of Winthrop, was arranged in Suffolk Superior Court on one count of aggravated rape of a child and seven counts of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office said Thursday. 

Feeley was arrested and charged in December with aggravated child rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14, Hayden’s office said at the time. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was held on $200,000 cash bail. 

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Between August 2022 and December 2023, Feeley allegedly sexually assaulted a child who was between ten and eleven years old at the time. The alleged assaults occurred at 26 Pleasant Ave. in Winthrop, where he lived with his wife and family, prosecutors said. 

The assaults reportedly included oral rape, according to court documents. 

The child told an adult about the abuse on Christmas in 2023. Feeley’s wife confronted Feeley, at which time he “did not deny the abuse,” court documents state. 

Afterward, he went to a cemetery armed with a handgun and “made statements which indicated that he was suicidal,” according to court documents. 

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“The defendant’s brother called the Winthrop Police Chief and a Winthrop Police Sergeant to meet the defendant at the cemetery,” a March 28 court filing reads. “At the time, the defendant confessed to the Winthrop Police Chief and Sergeant that he had sexually assaulted the alleged victim.”

The alleged victim was seen at Boston Children’s Hospital and Feeley was arrested by State Police the following day. 

In a later police interrogation, Feeley confessed to police to sexually assaulting the child on five or six occasions, including oral rape and indecent touching, court documents state.

Feeley was placed on administrative leave from the Winthrop Police Department in December, department Chief Terence Delehanty said at the time. Feeley was no longer employed by the department as of January, NBC 10 Boston reported. He had been with the department since 2002, according to his LinkedIn page. 

On Thursday, the judge retained Feeley’s existing bail of $200,000 and ordered him to have no contact with the victim or their family and no unsupervised contact with children under 16. He was also ordered to surrender his passport and firearms and remain in Massachusetts. 

Feeley’s pre-trial conference is scheduled for June 5. 

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“As this troubling case moves through the court process, we will provide the victim and the victim’s family with all the support, guidance, and assistance they need and deserve,” Hayden said in a statement Thursday. “Our prosecutors and victim advocates are acutely aware of the challenges victims and families face in such cases and are well-equipped to help from start to finish.”

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