Ark Valley News - Ex-cop charged with sex crimes

Delgado

Ex-cop charged with sex crimes
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: June 01, 2017

Former Valley Center police Sgt. Thomas Delgado has been formally charged with sex crimes involving four different underage victims. The crimes are alleged to have taken place over a 19-month period while he was a patrol supervisor.

Delgado, 49, is facing seven separate charges.

The charges are the result of a nearly six-month investigation into allegations that Delgado used his position as a police officer to pursue teenage girls, sending them sexually explicit text messages and touching them in a sexual way.

In a complaint filed May 26, the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office charged Delgado with sexual battery, attempted sexual battery, harassment by telephone and official misconduct, using his position to obtain confidential information for personal gain.

The worst of the charges, however, accuses Delgado of possessing a picture of a child under 18 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct. It's the only felony the former officer faces.

Delgado has been out of jail on bond since his Dec. 8, 2016, arrest.

Delgado, who was a police supervisor in Valley Center from March 2014 through December 2016, made his first appearance in Sedgwick County District Court May 26.

Meanwhile, the city of Valley Center continues to pick up the pieces of the allegations surrounding one of its former employees.

"I can't comment specifically on his case because of the pending legalities," said Mayor Laurie Dove. "What I can say is the core of our police department, which are some talented and upstanding employees, were concerned about our community and have really stepped up during this time. … This was a time to shine, and they did it."

The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office investigated the allegations against Delgado.

Authorities said the incidents started in February 2015, nearly a year after Delgado, a former Sedgwick County Sheriff's deputy, was hired in Valley Center. That's when, according to court documents, Delgado used confidential information for personal gain.

Delgado is accused of attempted sexual battery — allegedly placing his hand under a victim and talking about her "butt" — in an incident that occurred between Dec. 1, 2015, and Dec. 12, 2016.

In an incident that occurred between April 1, 2016, and Dec. 12, 2016, Delgado is accused of sexual battery — unlawfully touching a person 16 or older to "arouse or satisfy sexual desire."

According to court documents, the felony charge of sexual exploitation of a child stems from a June 13, 2016, incident.

Delgado is also accused of three counts of harassment by telephone, sending lewd or obscene text messages on or around Dec. 1, 2015, Jan. 1, 2016, and Aug. 1, 2016.

Sheriff Jeff Easter said in December 2016 that his office received a complaint involving two teenage girls who live in Valley Center. The complaint prompted the investigation that lead to Delgado's arrest on Dec. 8, 2016.

Delgado was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on charges of rape, sexual exploitation of a child, sexual battery and official misconduct. Delgado was released on $75,000 bond, which was reduced from an initial $100,000 amount.

The investigation didn't stop with Delgado's release, however.

Before formal charges were filed, the sheriff's office said additional potential victims stepped forward following Delgado's arrest. Investigators also apparently waded through several phone records, an often time-consuming process.

Delgado's preliminary hearing was set for 9 a.m. June 7.

Allegations against Delgado and his subsequent arrest touched off a chain of events in the Valley Center Police Department, leading to Mark Hephner's resignation as police chief in December.

Among the allegations against the department was that it knew of a 2011 investigation into similar allegations against Delgado during ride-alongs with a teenage girl while he was a deputy with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office. While Hephner said he knew of the sheriff's office's internal investigation, it was unclear when the department learned of the allegations — before or after the city hired Delgado in 2014.

Hephner said when he learned of the 2011 internal investigation, which did not lead to criminal charges, he placed restrictions on Delgado's ride-alongs.

After a week-long investigation into the department's hiring procedures last fall, City Administrator Scott Hildebrand concluded there was no wrongdoing. However, the department implemented tighter procedures.

As of this week, the open sergeant and chief positions have not been filled. Sgt. Lloyd Newman has been acting police chief since Hephner's resignation.

The city is waiting on a comprehensive public safety study, which was commissioned long before Delgado's arrest, before it moves forward with replacing the supervisor positions, Dove said.

"All of this shake-up also presented an opportunity to see how we can serve this community better," she said.

The study will look at the structure of the police and fire departments and the staffing, facilities and equipment they will need to serve the city as it grows.

On the hiring side, Dove said there will be "more oversight" of the process.

"More checks and balances just to make sure we're doing our absolute best to uncover any relevant information," she said.

Dove said officers in the department dealt with Delgado's arrest and charges "very professionally."

"What I saw initially was people that were disappointed in his actions," she said. "They were already professionals doing a good job. They just went right back doing that."