Rhode Island councilman busted with crack cocaine pipe in hand now charged with child molestation

The city councilman from Rhode Island who was arrested on allegations of substance abuse has now been charged with child molestation.

Cranston City Councilman Matthew Reilly, who is already facing charges of drug possession, is now charged with multiple counts of child molestation after the guardian of a 12-year-old girl filed a complaint with the Cranston Police Department. 

Reilly was arrested Thursday morning and taken into custody without incident. Cranston Police Department has declined to comment on the case.

Reilly’s attorney, Michael Lepizzera, Jr., has asked the public to refrain from jumping to conclusions in the face of the new charges.

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“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,” Lepizzera told The Daily Beast in an email Thursday. “I simply ask everyone to refrain from public ridicule and gossip and allow the legal process to unfold in the ordinary course.”

Lepizzera continued in his statement without directly commenting on the charges, calling the United States justice system “near perfect” and saying the courts should be trusted as “final adjudicator” of “any legal outcome.”

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“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.”

Reilly, a Republican, was previously arrested in May after a passerby tipped police off to a man who appeared to be having a medical episode in his car. 

Reilly, 41, was found passed out in the driver’s seat, and an officer on the scene told Reilly, “You have a crack pipe in your hands,” according to the bodycam footage. An officer observed that he appeared to have difficulty breathing or was choking, according to a police report.

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Video released by the Cranston Police Department shows the officer shaking Reilly awake before searching him and his vehicle. 

Reilly, who was the chairman of the Cranston Republican Party, appeared disoriented but was polite and cooperated with police as he was questioned. He initially denied having drugs in his car but later allegedly admitted to buying $100 worth of crack cocaine the day before.

Police discovered a “white, rock-like substance” inside a container found in the vehicle’s center console. The substance later tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, according to police. 

A search of the vehicle turned up additional drug paraphernalia, including a scouring pad, another pipe and tools used to scrape and prep the pipe, the police report said. 

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.