Police lieutenant charged with child rape
Winthrop officer placed on leave, pleads not guilty
A Winthrop police lieutenant is facing charges of aggravated rape of a child and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and has been placed on administrative leave from the department, officials said Wednesday.
James Anthony Feeley pleaded not guilty to all charges and was ordered held at Suffolk County Jail in lieu of $200,000 cash bail at his arraignment Wednesday morning in the East Boston division of Boston Municipal Court, court records show.
Feeley was ordered to wear a GPS monitor and to surrender his passport if he is released. In setting Feeley’s bail, the judge considered his history of mental illness, court documents show.
An attorney appointed to represent Feeley during the arraignment declined to comment on the case. Feeley is due back in court on Jan. 29.
Prosecutors said the assaults had taken place over the past year and Feeley was arrested Tuesday night after an investigation by State Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk district attorney’s office. Prosecutors and victim witness advocates trained to work with child victims of sexual assault are working on the case, they said.
“We have a far better understanding of the care and approach to child victims of violence and sexual assault than in the past, and this victim and the victim’s family will receive all the help and support they need as this case moves forward,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
Hayden’s office confirmed that Feeley is a lieutenant with the Winthrop Police Department, which released a brief statement on the case Wednesday morning.
“James Feeley has been placed on administrative leave from the Winthrop Police Department pending the outcome of a criminal investigation headed by State Police Detectives assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office,” Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty said in the statement, which directed further inquiries to the DA’s office.
No further information was immediately available.