LEWES – DNREC Division of Parks & Recreation Natural Resources Police have arrested five men this month in an ongoing anti-lewdness campaign operating out of the Wolfe Neck parking area near an intersection with the Junction & Breakwater Trail. The men – three from Delaware, two from Maryland and all over 59 years of age – were charged with lewdness-related offenses ranging from offensive touching; criminal solicitation; lewdness and indecent exposure; and loitering to engage in or solicit sex.
Parks Police Chief Wayne Kline said that in spite of crackdowns there by Natural Resources Police over the last year, DNREC continues to receive complaints from the neighboring public about such illicit activity in the Wolfe Neck area. “Thus we are continuing operations against a serious and longstanding problem with lewd and indecent public behavior there,” Chief Kline said. “Such behavior will not be tolerated in a public area within a Delaware State Park. Every arrest that we’ve made and may make as this enforcement operation continues reiterates that we are committed to eliminating this problem in a public area.”
DNREC has deployed incremental enforcement tactics over the last 15 months to rid the area of such behavior, including posting of “No Loitering” signs and increased patrol activity. Chief Kline said DNREC’s campaign to prevent public lewdness in the Wolfe Neck area has made use of both uniformed and plainclothes officers, and will continue to do so.
One of the men arrested there this month was taken to Justice of the Peace Court 3 on charges that included disregarding a police officer’s signal, a felony, and an assortment of moving vehicle violations. He was released on $4,900 bond pending arraignment in Superior Court. The other four men were released on a criminal summons with pending court appearances at Justice of the Peace Court 2. They face punishment ranging from a year in jail and fines up to $2,300 for Class A misdemeanor; of up to six months in jail and fine of $1,150 for Class B misdemeanor; up to 30 days in jail and a $575 fine for unclassified misdemeanor, and up to one-year probation and a $345 fine for a violation.
Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902
Vol. 46, No. 252