Suffolk D.A. candidate Ricardo Arroyo says he will not resign or drop out after report of sexual assault investigations
"This was clearly done to leave the false impression that I did something wrong."
2022 Massachusetts Elections
Democratic Suffolk County district attorney hopeful and sitting Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo has denied ever having known he was investigated for two possible and separate sexual assaults as a teenager, allegations that surfaced in a Boston Globe report published Tuesday evening.
Arroyo was investigated by Boston police in 2005 and 2007, when he was 18 and 19 years old, respectively, police and Boston Public Schools records show, according to the newspaper.
Neither investigation culminated in charges, a police spokesperson told the outlet.
Arroyo, 34, is a former public defender who was elected the District 7 city councilor in 2019. He is facing off against interim Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden in the Sept. 6 Democratic primary.
In a lengthy statement released Tuesday night, Arroyo denied he ever sexually assaulted anyone and said that he was unaware any allegations were made against him until the Globe approached him about them last week.
“Let me be perfectly clear. I never did what was alleged, then or ever. In fact, the individual from 2007 referenced in the Boston Globe made that very clear in her statement, saying ‘Ricardo Arroyo did not assault me ever,'” Arroyo said in the statement.
“Until a week ago, I had never been informed there were any such allegations ever made,” he continued. “I first learned of these allegations last week from the Boston Globe. I was never questioned by either Boston Public School officials or the Boston Police Department relative to any such allegations. I have never been disciplined by the Boston Public Schools for any reason.”
Arroyo’s statement contradicts some of the report files reviewed by the newspaper, however.
The Globe obtained the documents, but not the full case files, from “someone who had copies of the records,” the report states. Boston police confirmed the authenticity of the numbers on both sets of files but declined to release more documents related to the investigations.
The police records state a detective spoke to Arroyo and his attorney in relation to the 2005 case.
The accuser in that case, who did not return the Globe‘s requests for comment, told authorities Arroyo pressured her to perform oral sex on several occasions over a timeframe of four to six months.
The girl, then 17, and her mother notified school administrators about the allegations, and the matter was referred to police, according to the Globe.
The newspaper does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault without their permission.
Two detectives visited Arroyo’s home on Nov. 3, 2005, and spoke to his mother, the Globe reports. Arroyo was not home at the time, but he spoke to an investigator later that evening and told her he intended to hire a lawyer, the records show.
The police report listed Jose Vincenty as Arroyo’s attorney. Vincenty told the newspaper last week he represented Arroyo at that time, but he declined to provide further comment due to attorney-client privilege.
Arroyo declined the Globe‘s request to waive that privilege, the outlet reports. He said Vincenty was a family friend who helped him through issues at John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, where Arroyo was struggling with his classes at the time.
In 2007, a 16-year-old girl told police she thought she had been sexually assaulted by Arroyo after she had been drinking at house party, according to the newspaper.
She told authorities she could not remember everything that happened, but that she found herself barefoot in front of her home and unsure how she got there after the party. She also said her “private area” hurt the following day and she was “not [a] hundred percent sure if she was raped,” the Globe reports.
She told police she went to the hospital for treatment but left before she was evaluated, according to the outlet.
“I was never contacted about this,” Arroyo told the Globe. “I was never called about this. No woman has ever came to me and said this.”
The woman who made the allegations at first declined to speak to the Globe.
“I have nothing to do with Ricardo Arroyo and do not want anything from when I was a minor associated with Ricardo arroyo (sic) thank you,” she wrote in a message to a reporter on Aug. 16.
When the Globe spoke with Arroyo the next day, reporters did not share the identities of the alleged victims and Arroyo did not ask, the newspaper reports.
But about five hours after the interview, Arroyo messaged the woman from the 2007 allegation asking to speak, according to the Globe.
“I did not speak to Arroyo because like I told you earlier I do not associate any assault from my youth with Ricardo,” the woman wrote to a Globe reporter after receiving Arroyo’s message. “For clarity purposes. Ricardo arroyo did not assault me ever. I do not know who did or what happened.”
When asked about his message to the woman, Arroyo later released this statement to the Globe: “I realized that this may involve someone who I know, and I reached out to talk with her to try to find out more information. When we finally spoke, she informed me that she had already communicated with the Globe that I had never assaulted her, that she had never accused me of anything, and never believed that I had.”
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Arroyo reiterated he did not assault the two women and that he had not known he was ever under investigation, nor was his attorney at the time ever “made aware of any complaint,” according to Boston Herald reporter Sean Cotter.
Reporters also heard from Brigite Melo-Cronin, an attorney who said she represents one of the women who was allegedly assaulted. Melo-Cronin read a statement on behalf of her client, who was not present, Cotter wrote in a tweet.
The statement said Arroyo never assaulted the woman. Melo-Cronin blamed the situation on Hayden, calling out “disgusting tactics by the Hayden campaign,” according to Cotter.
Arroyo, who said he will not drop out of the race or resign from his City Council seat, also said someone committed “an abuse of power” in leaking the documents.
In a statement to Boston.com, a Hayden campaign spokesperson fired back: “In the recent Globe story, Ricardo Arroyo was clearly caught lying multiple times to reporters as he made seemingly frantic attempts to cover up the disturbing accusations against him. In the statement he put out after the fact, he continued to change his story. Now he is tossing out completely false and unfounded accusations in order to deflect from his own misconduct.”
In speaking to the Globe for Tuesday’s report, James Borghesani, a spokesperson for Hayden’s office, declined to release the full documents on the cases, referencing law that protects reports of sexual assault, and declined to comment on why authorities did not pursue charges.
He told the Globe the suspect was notified at the time when the allegations were made in both cases. Borghesani did not name the suspect but said both investigations involved only one.
Police reports reviewed by the newspaper name only Arroyo in both cases.
Arroyo faced some political fallout from the report on Wednesday.
Former Congressman Joe Kennedy III rescinded his endorsement of Arroyo in the Democratic primary.
Globe reporter Danny McDonald reported the move on Twitter, noting Kennedy was the first major endorser to sever ties with Arroyo’s campaign in the wake of the report.
“These allegations are incredibly serious and undermine the foundation of an effective DA’s office — trust and accountability,” a Kennedy spokesperson said in a statement to McDonald. “In light of this, Joe notified the campaign this morning that he is withdrawing his endorsement.”
Kennedy had only endorsed Arroyo earlier this month. At the time, Kennedy said he felt Arroyo had proven he “has the integrity, public safety experience and policy vision needed to build a criminal legal system that protects us all,” according to a news release from the Arroyo campaign.
In speaking with the Dorchester Reporter, City Councilor Erin Murphy said she believes Arroyo should drop out of the race and resign from his council post.
Murphy also released a statement on Twitter: “If these allegations of sexual assault, lying, and misuse of power are true, I am disgusted. If these allegations are true, I will not quietly stand by because that is the safe thing for me to do politically.”
Mayor Michelle Wu, however, who has endorsed Arroyo in the race, stopped short of rescinding her endorsement on Wednesday when asked about the report at an unrelated event.
Arroyo was also joined at Wednesday’s press conference by fellow councilors Kendra Lara and Tania Fernandes Anderson.
“I’m watching very closely to see how this story evolves and still processing and watching to see what else may come out,” Wu said, according to the Reporter.
“It is troubling to learn about allegations of this nature no matter how many years ago they happened, and it is tough when voters are presented with this type of information just days away from an election,” Wu added. “Early voting starts on Saturday.”
Asked if she will continue to support Arroyo in the district attorney primary, Wu said: “We’ll see how this story evolves.”
Read the full statement from Arroyo, shared online after the Globe report was published:
Let me be perfectly clear. I never did what was alleged, then or ever. In fact, the individual from 2007 referenced in the Boston Globe made that very clear in her statement, saying “Ricardo Arroyo did not assault me ever.”
Until a week ago, I had never been informed there were any such allegations ever made. I first learned of these allegations last week from the Boston Globe. I was never questioned by either Boston Public School officials or the Boston Police Department relative to any such allegations. I have never been disciplined by the Boston Public Schools for any reason.
I spoke to the Globe on the record last week and have willingly answered their questions since because I understand the seriousness of the issues raised and want to address them. Since speaking to the Boston Globe last week, I have learned that the 17-year old allegations from 2005 were determined at the time by law enforcement to be, and I quote “unfounded”. The case was closed with no charges pursued. I was never informed of these allegations or interviewed by BPS or BPD. In addition, the individual referenced from the 2007 allegation is on the record in the article stating “Ricardo Arroyo did not assault me ever.”
Sadly, what has now become clear is that the current District Attorney – or an official working on his behalf – just weeks before the election has selectively and illegally leaked incomplete information to the media. This was clearly done to leave the false impression that I did something wrong.
Read the full Boston Globe report.
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