CRANSTON, R.I. — A former Republican city councilman who was arrested last month after police found him passed out in an SUV with a crack pipe and crack cocaine is now charged with sexual assault and molestation of a 12-year-old girl.
Attorney Matthew R. Reilly was ordered held without bail Thursday on felony charges of first-degree child molestation sexual assault, second-degree child molestation sexual assault, and enticement of a child.
The investigation began after the legal guardian of the 12-year-old girl, who is not related to Reilly, contacted the Cranston police on May 7. Reilly was arrested Thursday morning and arraigned in Third District Court before Magistrate Joseph Ippolito.
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The court granted a motion from Assistant Attorney General Shannon Signore to seal the search warrant and related documents in the case for 90 days.
“There are details pertaining to minor children as victims of child molestation and there is an ongoing investigation involving persons and evidence described in the affidavit and warrant,” Signore’s motion said. “Any premature disclosure of this information could lead to destruction of evidence or the identification of confidential sources or otherwise hinder or compromise the investigation.”
No plea was entered in the case, as is customary for felony charges at the District Court level.
“With these types of charges, I can see the general public and even close friends instantaneously turning their back on Mr. Reilly and drawing knee jerk conclusions,” said Reilly’s lawyer, Michael Lepizzera of Warwick. “I simply ask everyone to refrain from public ridicule and gossip and allow the legal process to unfold in the ordinary course. While we may not have a perfect system of justice in this country (as nothing is perfect), my 30 years as a lawyer allows me to state that we have as near perfect judicial system as could exist and we should trust in the system to be the final adjudicator of the facts, the law and any legal outcome.”
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Reilly, 41, had been the chairman of the Cranston Republican Party and a second-term councilman representing Ward 6, until three weeks ago. A bystander saw Reilly passed out in an SUV in a parking lot and flagged down a police officer.
Officer Luis Collado saw that Reilly appeared to be choking, so he opened the door and shook Reilly to wake him. Then, Collado noticed the crack pipe in his hand.
Reilly insisted that he was fine and that he had sleep apnea. Then, in body-worn camera videos released by Cranston Police Wednesday, Reilly admitted that he’d smoked crack cocaine.
Reilly told the officers that he’d been in Narcotics Anonymous for 13 years, but was going through a bad divorce and had relapsed. The police found crack cocaine in the vehicle’s center console. The driver’s seat had white residue, and the officers spoke on the video of a burnt smell in the vehicle’s interior.
Reilly was charged with unlawful possession of crack cocaine/fentanyl, which is a misdemeanor, and released on his own recognizance for arraignment on June 15.
Reilly resigned from the council seat and the chairmanship of the Cranston Republican Party, and was also temporarily suspended from practicing law and evicted from his law office.
The chief disciplinary counsel filed an emergency petition to take action, after Reilly’s arrest became public. A Supreme Court justice ordered the immediate interim suspension of Reilly’s law license and appointed Chief Disciplinary Counsel Kerry Reilley Travers as the temporary Special Master of his client files.
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Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaMilkovits.