SUSPENDED WOONSOCKET POLICE OFFICER TO SERVE 6 MONTHS FOR ABUSING HALF-SISTER


By Donita Naylor

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A suspended Woonsocket police officer found guilty in October of abusing his 9-year-old half-sister in 2012 was sentenced Monday in Superior Court to serve six months of a 10-year term.
Patrick Cahill, 25, was convicted in October by Judge Daniel A. Procaccini of one count of second-degree child abuse for using unnecessary force against his half-sister on Aug. 20, 2012, while she and her sister were in his care.
Procaccini said that after Cahill serves six months, he’ll be on probation for the remainder of the 10-year sentence. Cahill was ordered to have no contact with the victim, to undergo anger management and mental health counseling and to turn over any firearms, said Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office.
The start of the sentence was stayed until Jan. 14, the court date for execution of the sentence or a hearing on bail pending appeal, Kempe said.
Cahill has been suspended without pay since his arrest on Aug. 21, 2012.