City cop arrested for assault of girl, 9

August 21, 2012

(File photo/Ernest A. Brown)

WOONSOCKET — A city policeman was arrested by his own department on felony assault charges Tuesday for striking a 9-year-old girl, police said.
Officer Patrick Cahill, 23, was taken into custody on a complaint filed by the girl’s mother, said Jamie Paone, a spokeswoman for the Woonsocket Police Department.
She said the girl is closely related to Cahill, but she declined to elaborate, saying the police are trying to protect the privacy of such a young person.
She said Cahill was arraigned in District Court and released on $5,000 personal recognizance. He has been suspended without pay in accordance with the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights, which provides for a separate review and in-house adjudication of the allegations by a panel of police peers.

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