Patrolman Patrick Cahill to six months in prison for abusing his then 9-year-old sister in 2012.
10-year-old handcuffed during police stop in Middletown
Cop
gets prison sentence
By Russ Olivo
WOONSOCKET – A Superior Court
judge on Monday sentenced suspended city Patrolman Patrick Cahill to six months
in prison for abusing his then 9-year-old sister in 2012.
Superior Court Judge Daniel
Procaccini sentenced Cahill to 10 years in all, with six months to serve and
the balance suspended, with probation, for choking the girl and dragging her by
the hair.
The 25-year-old policeman must
surrender all his firearms, undergo mental health counseling and refrain from
contacting his sister as part of the judge’s sentence.
The judge allowed Cahill to
remain free on bail at least until Jan. 14. At that time Procaccini will decide
whether Cahill must report to the Adult Correctional Institutions or be allowed
to remain free on bail pending an appeal, according to Amy Kempe, spokeswoman
for Attorney General Peter Kilmartin.
Cahill was convicted of
second-degree child abuse after a seven-day trial on Oct. 9.
Testimony showed that on Aug.
20, 2012, Cahill threw his sister on a sofa after pulling her indoors – by the
hair – from the front drive of his house on Newport Avenue. Then he pressed his
knee on her chest and squeezed her throat with his hands until her face turned
red and she started coughing.
She complained of difficulty
breathing after Cahill let go. The episode happened while two of Cahill’s
sisters, including an 11-year-old, were visiting him at the home Cahill shared
with his father, Michael Cahill, a retired Woonsocket police captain.
After the girls had been
watching TV for some time, Cahill became angry after the younger girl asked him
if she could go outside to play. Cahill had instructed the girl to stay in the
house, but she went outside anyway, at which point Cahill went after her and
grabbed her by her ponytail.
After the trial, it was
Procaccini alone who found Cahill guilty because he waived his right to a trial
by jury. At the time, Kilmartin called Cahill’s actions “reprehensible and
disturbing.”
Cahill has been on unpaid
administrative leave from the Woonsocket Police Department since the time of
his arrest. His status is not expected to change immediately.
After the conviction, Police
Chief Thomas Carey said the department would not revisit the issue of Cahill’s
employment status until he had exhausted all of his appellate rights in the
judicial system.
10-year-old
handcuffed during police stop in Middletown
By Kaitlyn Naples
MIDDLETOWN, CT (WFSB) -
Working undercover, Middletown
detectives executed an arrest warrant last Wednesday night outside of a South
Main Street liquor store.
Police arrested 27-year-old
Kenneth Ford on drug charges and reckless driving and evading responsibility.
Police said they watched and
followed Ford first, from the Woodrow Wilson Middle School.
Ford reportedly left the school
twice for two different drug deals before returning to pick up a female and
head to the liquor store.
Police confronted Ford outside
of the store and heard screaming from inside of his car.
The female in the back seat was
a fifth grade student that he picked up from basketball.
Attorney Corey Brinson said,
“They (police) grabbed my 10-year-old client, a fifth grader, threw her up
against car, and handcuffed her. Patted her on the side of the car, while guns
were drawn and she screamed in terror, frightened.”
Ford asked police to call the
girl's mother, who told officers her age which is when police then removed the
handcuffs immediately.
The child was placed in another
unmarked car before returning to the police station to be picked up by her mom.
"I can understand concerns
mom would have when daughter handcuffed, but have to do everything in safest
possible manner,” said Middletown Police Lt. Heather Desmond.
Police said Ford is a convicted
felon known to carry guns. They found four cell phones, seven bags of crack
cocaine and almost $3,000 in cash in his possession.
They also said some of the
drugs were in plain view and within immediate reach of the girl.
The child's mother said she
wants a resolution and some sympathy.
“She's a very sensitive kid.
She's been crying for days, missed school, went back today, still upset, and is
going to seek therapy,” said her mother Canaa Chaney.
“Many of us have children of
our own, never want to see a child in this situation and not be with someone
selling drugs and unfortunately daughter in place and police acted
appropriately,” Desmond said.
Brinson said he and his clients
are likely going to file a federal lawsuit for wrongful false arrest and
unlawful imprisonment “because enough is enough, handcuff her and throw her
against the car.”
On Friday, Ford was still
behind bars and he and the girl's mother have a child together.
She said she has never known
him to carry a gun or be in a situation with crack in clear view.
