Interim Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden has denied playing any role in leaking documents indicating that Boston City Councilor Ricard Arroyo was investigated for sexual assault.
Hayden, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker to finish Rachael Rollins' term as Suffolk district attorney, is locked in a bitter Democratic primary race with Arroyo for a full term.
Hayden's comments came a day after Arroyo scrambled to answer questions raised in a Boston Globe report that he was investigated for his alleged involvement in a pair of sexual assault cases in 2005 and 2007.
At a press conference Wednesday, Arroyo denied the assault allegations and said he wasn't aware of any investigations before he was approached by the Globe. He was joined by an attorney representing the unnamed accuser in the 2007 case who read a statement on behalf of her client, saying that "Arroyo has never assaulted me."
Arroyo said the 2005 case ended after a law enforcement investigation deemed the complaint against him “unfounded.”
Arroyo and multiple supporters have either implied or outright accused Hayden's office of illegally leaking documents related to the assault cases. The Globe story also raised questions as to whether Arroyo was truthful on his 2014 application to the state bar association when he indicated he had never been the subject of any investigation.
Hayden described the finger-pointing from the Arroyo camp as a diversion tactic to draw attention away from that apparent discrepancy.
“My opponent has, I think, attempted to deflect his own conduct by blaming me [and] by claiming that me, or my office has done certain things and that’s simply not the case,” he said. “We cannot and will not, in any case, disclose documents or case files in sexual assault cases, we’re just not permitted to do so.”
Hayden's comments came in an interview with Boston Black News, a local church-run radio station based in Dorchester.
The interim district attorney did not call for Arroyo’s resignation from his Boston City Council seat, or for the suspension of his campaign, but slammed his opponent as unfit to hold the office they’re competing for.
“It's the job of every district attorney in cases involving sexual assault to always seek the truth justly and fairly and to always have the utmost perspective and understanding and compassion for survivors and empathy for survivors,” Hayden said in the interview. “I think it's clear that ... Councilor Arroyo simply is incapable of carrying out those responsibilities.”
