HUB COPS MULL ARROYO CHARGES
BPD: ‘Case remains open’
Police probing sexual harassment allegations against fired city Health and Human Services Chief Felix G. Arroyo say they have contacted the alleged victim, but the case remains open.
Lt. Michael McCarthy, a Boston police spokesman, said police have spoken by phone with the woman who filed the complaint against Arroyo, but that she has not yet decided whether she wants to “pursue this any further on the criminal side.”
“Right now it’s still an active investigation,” McCarthy said. “Until we have time to sit with the victim and get a sense of what happened, then we’ll know what the charges may or may not be.”
Reaction was swift yesterday to news Arroyo’s demise.
Mayoral candidate and Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson called the firing a “sad day for Boston” and charged Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s administration as having a culture of “impropriety and retribution.”
“I’m very troubled that the Walsh administration compromised the safety of a female city employee for several days after she reported this matter to Human Resources,” Jackson said.
Asked about Jackson’s criticism, Walsh fired back, claiming the District 7 councilor is “all over the road.”
“He’s criticizing us yesterday of not taking action, criticizing us this morning for taking action, he’s all over the road,” Walsh said. “I think the councilor should stick to what he wants to. We’ll have plenty of of opportunity to have debates about whose management style is stronger.”
Walsh said he made the call to fire Arroyo from his $130,000-a-year job after an internal probe and promised a wide-ranging search for the next head of the department.
“It’s certainly a hard decision, a disappointing decision,” Walsh added yesterday.
According to a complaint filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, a woman who worked in Arroyo’s office said he “spanked” and directed inappropriate sexual comments at her and grabbed the back of her neck when he learned she was planning to file a formal complaint.
She said the harassment began when she started working in Arroyo’s office in 2015.