Former Narragansett Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Sending Obscene Material to a Child

Former Narragansett Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Sending Obscene Material to a Child

Former Narragansett police officer Matthew Riley pleaded guilty to a charge of sending obscene material to a minor on Thursday in federal court in Providence.

Riley is scheduled to be sentenced on February 1, 2019.

Guilty Plea

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Riley admitted to the Court that in approximately late 2015 or early 2016, he began communicating with an individual via a website and through text messaging and other messaging communication technologies, such as Snapchat and Kik messenger.

Early in their communications, the person with whom Riley was communicating told him that she was 15-years-old and that she was a 9th-grade student.

On May 9, 2016, in a series of texts with the 15-year-old, Riley discussed what time her high school day ended; that she was in 9th grade; and that she did not turn 16 until October.  

During his communications with the 15-year-old, Riley identified himself as “Chris M.” and told her he was 29-years-old, lived in Boston, was in the Navy, and worked as a physical therapist.     

Over the course of a few months, at times stopping for days or weeks, and then resuming, Riley’s communications with the 15-year-old included sexually explicit communications, including graphic, sexually explicit pictures of himself and videos of himself committing a sex act.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise M. Barton.