WINTHROP, MASS. (WHDH) - A former Winthrop police lieutenant accused of sexually abusing a child changed his plea to guilty Monday morning.
James Feeley pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated rape of a child and seven counts of incident assault and battery of a child under the age of 14. The former lieutenant and father of eight said that over the course of a year, he sexually assaulted a child five to six times.
“I’m pleading guilty for the very vile acts that I committed,” Feeley said in court.
The assaults allegedly happened at his Winthrop home, prosecutors said. Before his arrest last December, Feeley had been a foster parent.
Prosecutors said that during Christmas of 2023, the sexual abuse survivor revealed she had been indecently touched multiple times by Feeley.
A confrontation took place at Feeley’s home, police said, before Feeley allegedly grabbed a gun, went to the cemetery where his parents are buried, and told responding officers what he had done.
“He made numerous admissions to other Winthrop police officers detailing the abuse he committed,” said prosecutor Benjamin Hui.
Explicit details of the assaults were read aloud in court. When the judge asked Feeley if he committed the acts, he said he did.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Feeley said.
The judge accepted Feeley’s guilty plea, sentenced him, and closed the case.
“This is a hard day for many people involved, I understand that. I don’t need to reinforce that at all, how difficult this is. And I wish the family has full healing from this,” said Judge James Budreau, of Suffolk Superior Court.
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