City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo calls for investigation after Boston Globe reported sex assault accusations
BOSTON - Boston city councilor and candidate for Suffolk County district attorney Ricardo Arroyo is calling for an independent investigation into a Boston Globe report alleging that he was accused of sexual assault when he was a teen.
Arroyo denies sexually assaulting anyone and says police never interviewed him. "I was never told that these investigations happened. I had no way to relay that to the public in any way," Arroyo said at a press conference Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Boston Globe published an article detailing the two accusations dating back to 2005. Neither led to any charges.
At the press conference, a lawyer read a statement from one of the women who the Globe claimed had accused Arroyo of rape, but she said she did not.
"Ricardo Arroyo has never assaulted me," said Brigite Melo-Cronin, an attorney for the woman cited in the Globe article. "When I stated this felt like harassment to the Boston Globe, I was not speaking about Ricardo. I was speaking about the Boston Globe and how they approached me and how I felt they twisted the things I was telling them."
In a statement, Arroyo blamed his opponent interim Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden for the leak. "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," Arroyo said.
Arroyo says he has no intention of dropping out of the district attorney race or resigning as city councilor.
