Boston City Councilor and candidate for Suffolk County District Attorney Ricardo Arroyo has filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Boston, in an attempt to gain access to police records pertaining to a 2005 investigation.
The suit follows a Boston Globe report that uncovered two sexual assault investigations when Arroyo was a teenager.
Arroyo says he only learned recently that he was twice investigated over sexual assault allegations.
Citing police and school records, the Boston Globe reported last week that in 2005, a high school student told police Arroyo, then her classmate, had sexually assaulted her. A second teen told police in 2007 that she believed Arroyo had sexually assaulted her, as well.
Arroyo spoke out last Wednesday, denying the allegations, which he says he didn't know about until he was contacted by the Boston Globe for the story.
"Just to be clear, I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my life," he said at a press conference. "I've learned that the 17-year-old complaint from 2005 was determined at the time by law enforcement to be unfounded. The case was closed with no charges pursued."
The Boston Police Department confirmed to NBC10 Boston last week that it had investigated the two complaints, forwarding the cases to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office that Arroyo hopes to lead.
Toward the conclusion of the lawsuit, Arroyo says he has filed Freedom of Information Act requests for two Boston police incident reports, along with related correspondence that mentions him around 2006. The lawsuit alleges an "illegal dissemination of materials to the Globe," which the complaint claims is to "falsely portray Arroyo in a negative light implying impropriety when there was none."
The lawsuit continues by alleging that the distributor of the information intends on "maliciously maligning Arroyo's good character to directly affect a political contest."
Meanwhile, in the 2007 case, a 16-year-old girl told police she had been drinking at a house party, then ended up barefoot in front of her home without remembering how she got there. The Globe reported she was not positive she was raped, and that the police report shows she went to the hospital for treatment but left without being evaluated.
At Arroyo's press conference, a lawyer claiming to represent the 2007 accuser read a letter from her out loud.
"I can say this with absolute authority because I am the person who made that complaint, Richardo Arroyo has never assaulted me," the letter read, according to attorney Brigite Melo-Cronin.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who has publicly endorsed Arroyo, spoke about the allegations last week outside Boston City Hall.
"We're waiting to see what more details might evolve in this situation," she said. "It is, of course, troubling to learn of this type of allegation, no matter how many years ago."
Boston City Council President Ed Flynn announced on social media that he was rescinding his endorsement of Arroyo, and has removed him from his committee chair assignments.
Arroyo has maintained his innocence and says he will not resign from the city council or end his district attorney campaign.
