Marc Fortier

Police Now Investigating Allegations Against Top Boston Official

Boston police say they are looking into allegations that a city official grabbed a woman by the back of the neck after she said she was going to report him for sexual harassment.

A police spokesman told the Boston Globe on Wednesday that they are trying to contact the woman to see if she wants to file a criminal complaint.

The woman has already filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination against Felix Arroyo, the chief of health and human services. Arroyo's chief of staff and Mayor Marty Walsh are also named in the complaint.

The woman says Arroyo made sexually inappropriate comments and grabbed her bottom.

"These allegations are intolerable and disturbing. We take the safety and well-being of our employees very seriously and we are working to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible," the mayor's office said in a statement earlier this week.

Arroyo has been on paid administrative leave since July 28 amid an internal investigation. He says the allegations are baseless.

"We have reason to believe that as of Thursday the complainant knew of components of Chief Arroyo's testimony from the day before and went to MCAD as an act of retaliation," Arroyo's spokesperson, Colette Phillips, said. "There is a process and Chief Arroyo is cooperating with the process."

Arroyo, a former Boston City Councilor, was one of several candidates who ran against Walsh for mayor in 2013. He was named by Walsh to head up the Health and Human Services Department in January 2014.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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