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Man who promoted foster care arrested on additional child molestation, sexual abuse charges

A man who appeared in videos promoting foster care was arrested, bonded out, then rearrested on additional charges of sexual abuse and child molestation.

A man is accused of inappropriately touching adoptive children, according to new allegations filed with police.

Mathew Arrington was arrested after four child victims gave new information about inappropriate interactions with Arrington, according to a Form IV filed by the Mesa Police Department.

Arrington was arrested originally on May 7, after he was accused of inappropriately touching a child. 

The probable cause statement for that arrest states Arrington admitted to touching the victim inappropriately one time and "begged his wife and daughters for forgiveness" after his wife confronted him about the incident. 

When police interviewed him, Arrington initially said the victim was lying, then later said she was not lying but that he could not recall touching her inappropriately, the document says. 

His wife filed an order of protection against him, according to documents.

Arrington was released on bond on May 9. On May 11, police received information from Arrington's wife that other incidents had come to light, according to documents.

On May 14, police interviewed the child victims, and Arrington was arrested on more charges on May 17.

The victims told police Arrington had touched their genitals and breasts on various occasions. One teen victim said Arrington had come into the bathroom while she was showering. Other victims said violations happened while the victim sat on his lap, or slept next to Arrington, according to documents.

Arrington had appeared in a video promoting foster care for the organization called "Foster Arizona." The organization helps foster parents and features children in the system.

Foster Arizona said in a statement Wednesday that the allegations against Arrington were not known to the organization when he participated in their video. 

"Foster Arizona is heartbroken learning of this story early today. The Arrington Family did participate in a video Foster Arizona produced back in 2017. Unfortunately, at that time, these egregious acts were not known to us. We take our community relationships very seriously, as we feel the community plays an important role in supporting kids in the Arizona foster care system and the safety of these kids is always our highest priority in all that we do. This is a horrific situation for this family and our thoughts, prayers and support are with them. We honor the courage of these young ladies to come forward and ask that the community understand the impact of trauma on their lives and respect their need for privacy to heal."

As Arrington was taken into custody on May 17, he complained of chest pains and was taken to the hospital. He was cleared on May 18 and booked into jail.

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