Former casting agent pleads guilty to child sexual assault

FALL RIVER, Mass. — A former casting agent serving time for molesting boys in Minnesota pleaded guilty in Fall River Friday to sexually abusing a Massachusetts teen.

Matthew Feeney, the victim's relative,
admitted to repeatedly molesting the then-14-year-old while visiting the boy's family on a trip from Minnesota in 2010.

The local victim, who asked not to be identified, faced his abuser in court Friday, reading a victim impact statement.

"Matthew Feeney has destroyed so many lives, to accomplish what? To fill his sick and twisted need," he said, with his mother at his side. "Matthew Feeney will have time to think about what he did while he's sitting in a cell. Meanwhile, me and the other victims are not victims anymore. We are strong and living good lives."

The victim came forward in 2011, determined to prevent Feeney from hurting other boys.

"Really, the reason I came forward is because I didn't want this to happen to anyone else," he said Friday.

Indeed, through that exposure of Feeney in the media, two young brothers in Minnesota, clients of Feeney's casting agency, Walden Entertainment, found the strength to speak up in 2012.

Feeney pleaded guilty in 2013 to sexually abusing the brothers and was sentenced to nine years in prison. The young men later won a $2.1 million civil suit against Feeney.

Feeney would finally be extradited to Massachusetts in 2016.

On Friday, he pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery on a child 14 or over, enticing a child under 16 and unnatural and lascivious acts with a child under 16. He was sentenced to five years in prison and ten years of probation, to start after his Minnesota sentence is served.

After the local victim's statement Friday, Feeney offered an apology.

"What I did was completely inappropriate. It was inexcusable, unjustifiable and absolutely wrong," Feeney said. "I took advantage of a vulnerable young man."

The victim's mother, speaking to FOX25 after court, said her son has suffered physically and mentally every day for more than six years. Friday's plea allows their family to move forward with their lives.

"I am so proud of my son. I mean, at a young age, he decided to come forward," she said. "We just want to move forward and start our healing process. And it's been a long, long, long road."

Long before both cases, in 1992, unbeknownst to the victims and their families, Feeney had been convicted of sexually abusing boys while working as a youth counselor. He received probation and treatment.

Because of his history, the local victim's mother hopes, once Feeney finishes his prison term, that he will be civilly committed, unable to hurt another child.

Their family encourages anyone else who may have been victimized by Feeney to come forward.

Cox Media Group