‘I’ve never assaulted anyone,’ DA candidate Arroyo addresses reported sexual assault allegations

BOSTON — Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, a candidate for Suffolk County District Attorney, held a news conference on Wednesday to address a published report that alleged he was investigated twice for sexual assault in 2005 and 2007.

“I want to begin by assuring the public that I’ve never assaulted anyone,” said Arroyo as he stepped to a microphone in front of his supporters. “Until a week ago, I’d never been informed that such complaints were made.”

The remarkable news conference followed a report in the Boston Globe that said a high school classmate of Arroyo’s told police he had assaulted her in 2005. The Globe reported a second teenage girl reported to police that she believed Arroyo assaulted her in 2007 after she got drunk at a party.

Arroyo was not charged in either case.

He says the first time he heard about the allegations when when the Boston Globe reached out to him.

“At no time did anyone ever in my life tell me I had any such complaints made or was ever the subject of any investigation,” said Arroyo.

Arroyo also called for an independent investigation into the apparent leak of documents related to the case. He said Boston Police had concluded had those documents had not been accessed by the police department since the cases were closed years ago, and he pointed the finger at Kevin Hayden, who is also running for district attorney and currently holds the office since being appointed by Governor Baker, following the departure of former DA Rachael Rollins.

Arroyo said it’s clear that Hayden or someone working on Hayden’s behalf leaked incomplete information to harm Arroyo’s reputation.

Hayden’s campaign released a statement after Arroyo’s news conference.

“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,” according to the statement from a Hayden campaign spokesperson.

Arroyo was joined at his Wednesday news conference by an attorney who represented the woman linked to the 2007 allegation.

Brigite Melo-Cronin, read a statement on behalf of the woman who did not want her name revealed. The woman called Arroyo a friend in her statement.

“I was very clear with the Boston Globe from the very beginning that Ricardo Arroyo did not assault me,” said attorney Melo-Cronin, reading the woman’s statement.

The controversy, just weeks before the state primary, raised questions about Arroyo’s future as a candidate.

He told reporters he had no intention dropping out of the DA’s race or resigning as a city councilor. “Absolutely not,” said Arroyo.

One of Arroyo’s supporters did announce he was no longer backing Arroyo for DA.

“Upon reading the media reports of these troubling allegations and conflicting information, I have decided to rescind my endorsement of Ricardo Arroyo for Suffolk County District Attorney,” said City Councilor Ed Flynn in a post to Twitter.

The Globe reported that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was “troubled” by the allegations against Arroyo but that she was waiting “to see how this story evolves” before making any decisions about whether she will continue to support him.

“I understand that sexual assault is a serious issue,” said Arroyo during his news conference. “I want to assure the public that as your next district attorney I will always treat it as such.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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