4-Year-Old Found Wandering Alone in New London

New London Police were called to the 900 block of Ocean Avenue at around 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, after receiving a report of a small child alone on a side road.

“The child, approximately four-years-old, was able to tell New London Police that his father was asleep at home and he was not able to wake him,” Deputy Chief Peter Reichard said.

He had wandered approximately three quarters of a mile away from his father’s Waterford residence into New London, police said.

One of the officers realized he knew who the child’s mother was and contacted the mother, who was at work in Westerly, R.I.

Police requested she come to New London to claim her child.

“The mother informed New London officers that the child should have been with his father at his residence in Waterford,” Reichard said.

A New London officer was on the way to Waterford when the father appeared on scene. He allegedly stated he had been driving around the neighborhood in Waterford looking for the child for approximately 20 minutes but did not call police.

“He stated that he was taking a shower and the child must have wandered away,” according to police. “His appearance on scene did not reflect the fact that he had showered recently.”

Father Phillip Rahilly, 28, of 16 Ridgewood Ave. in Waterford, was arrested for risk of injury to a minor.

He is being held in lieu of $75,000 bond. The Department of Children and Families is assisting the police with the investigation.