Police officer allegedly confessed to child rape
Reportedly told Winthrop chief about crimes in call, previously served as foster parent
A Winthrop police lieutenant charged with child rape had previously served as a foster parent and allegedly visited his parents’ graves with a handgun on Christmas night, apparently contemplating suicide, then confessed his crimes to the chief of his department, according to court documents and officials.
James Anthony Feeley, 56, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of aggravated rape of a child and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 at his arraignment in the East Boston division of Boston Municipal Court, records show.
Feeley was ordered held at Suffolk County Jail in lieu of $200,000 cash bail and has been placed on paid administrative leave by the Winthrop Police Department, according to officials. He must wear a GPS monitor and surrender his passport if he is released. In setting Feeley’s bail, the judge considered his history of mental illness, court documents show.
Feeley had previously served as a foster parent, according to officials. They have not stated whether the victim had been a foster child.
“The Department of Children and Families is investigating these disturbing allegations against a foster parent,” a department spokesperson said in a statement to the Globe that did not identify him by name. “There are no foster children currently residing in the foster home.”
An attorney appointed to represent Feeley during the arraignment declined to comment on the case on Wednesday. It was unclear Thursday whether Feeley had retained another lawyer. He is due back in court on Jan.
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An affidavit filed by a State Police detective investigating the allegations paints a dramatic picture of an officer in crisis.
The document states that on Christmas night, Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty received a phone call from his brother, a sergeant in the same department, telling him that Feeley was in the Belle Isle Cemetery in Winthrop and was “in a bad way” and asking to speak to the chief directly.
Chief Delehanty, who was off duty, went to the cemetery to meet Feeley, whom he has known for more than 50 years, according to the affidavit. Delehanty arrived to find Delehanty’s brother, Feeley, and several members of Feeley’s family at the graveyard.
When Delehanty asked Feeley what was happening, Feeley allegedly confessed to sexually assaulting a juvenile victim under age 14.
“He could not explain why he had done this,” the affidavit said.
Feeley was apologetic to the chief and the chief’s brother, and when Delehanty asked why Feeley was in the cemetery near his parents’ graves, Feeley allegedly responded, “What do you think?” according to the affidavit.
Feeley was allegedly armed with a handgun, and Delehanty believed he was suicidal. The chief persuaded Feeley to hand over the gun to him, and Feeley was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for a psychiatric evaluation, according to the affidavit.
The state Department of Children and Families told the Suffolk district attorney’s office that the victim in the case was examined at Boston Children’s Hospital, and the hospital filed a notice to the state of alleged child abuse, according to the affidavit. The victim reported that the abuse began about a year ago.