Selbyville Police Detective Lawrence Corrigan has had a long and productive career in his 25 years of policing, including 12 years in the major-crimes unit at the Delaware State Police and working in their explosives unit for 10 years.
Now a six-year veteran of the Selbyville Police Department, Corrigan wears many hats — detective, school resource officer and major-crimes investigator.
Corrigan was one of many emergency services personnel recognized at the Joshua M. Freeman Valor Awards on Feb. 9 for his service to the community. Corrigan had also previously been nominated for and received the award.
But last year, Corrigan began investigating a claim of sexual assault, following a hotline call to the Division of Family Services.
“A hotline request is generally, if there’s been some level of abuse — physical or sexual — involving a child, and mandated reporters who are generally school teachers, counselors, doctors, nurses… If they have information that’s been given to them, by law it needs to go through Division of Family Services’ 24-hour hotline,” explained Corrigan. “In this particular case, the information had been relayed to a public-school nurse in the Seaford School District.”
The case, investigated by Corrigan, was given to the Selbyville Police Department, as the abuse allegedly took place within town limits.
“We learned that two juvenile females who were sisters had made allegations of sexual abuse against a family friend, Joel Deleon, 35, and that the abuse occurred in the town limits of Selbyville between 2014 and 31 Jan. 2016,” said Corrigan. “As is the case with a lot of these types of reports, sometimes the abuse reports themselves are delayed because, in this case, the children didn’t know who to turn to.”
Corrigan said the investigation was a collaborative effort between numerous agencies, including the Department of Justice, Division of Family Services and the Children’s Advocacy Center.
“What our ultimate goal is, collectively, in these cases, for the child, is one interview. The children made some disclosures to the nurse. Once that occurred, she then, with due diligence, made a phone calls to CFS,” he explained.
“Normally, the disclosure that is made, we do not go in-depth there. That’s for down the road, when we have the more formal interview. This is very, very traumatizing for a child, and we’re trying to collectively minimize having them retell the story repeatedly.”
From the interviews with the two girls, both younger than 12, Corrigan said it was learned that they had been left under the care of Deleon, who was a marital or blood relation of the victims’ parents, while family members were at work or church functions.
“During those times, Mr. Deleon had sexually abused each of the children to the point where criminal charges resulted,” he said. “At one point, the male promised the older child a cellular telephone.”
When disclosure of the abuse was made, the children and their parents were living separately from Deleon.
Corrigan obtained an arrest warrant for Deleon on March 31, 2017, and the suspect was arrested in early April on 15 counts of sexual abuse. Corrigan said it was imperative they locate Deleon quickly, as he was a native of Guatemala, and they feared he would leave the country and not be prosecuted.
“That flight risk was real.”
Deleon was indicted by a grand jury, and recently pleaded guilty in Superior Court and was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
“I think that gave some level of closure to the children and their family.”
The children, said Corrigan, as victims, are entitled under the law to receive benefits, including counseling.
“The psychological impact on sexual-abuse victims is wide and ranging.”
Selbyville Police Chief W. Scott Collins said it was important for him to have Corrigan recognized at the Valor Awards for his efforts, as many may not know the amount of work he puts into his job.
“I think, a lot of times, our school resource monitors are underappreciated,” Collins said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize what really goes on and the scale of their work. I thought this was the perfect example of what they do and the things they get involved, and what a huge impact they have on the children and the community.
“That’s what’s great about the Freeman Awards,” Collins said. “It’s the one time of year where people get to hear what’s really going on. It’s certainly nice, when you see everything that’s in the media, to have that one day where you’re going, ‘Everybody’s not against us.’”
Although Corrigan did not receive the overall Valor Award for 2018, he did receive recognition for his part in the investigation. But he also took a moment to recognize the other first-responders in the room.
Collins and Corrigan said that, if anyone suspects any type of sexual abuse is occurring, they should not hesitate to contact the police department with those concerns.
Corrigan added that the Selbyville Police Department has investigated incidents of this nature before, all of which were investigated as thoroughly as this incident.
“I’m a firm believer in constant training. Through the last 30 years, I’ve received that,” he said.
Corrigan praised the efforts of collaborating state agencies in bringing the case to a close.
“I want to stress that this was not simply my case. This was a group effort,” he said. “I’m a firm believer in a group process for these. All these various positions bring a certain skillset to the table. It’s critical we all work together, and this case is proof positive of that.”