A Kennett Square police officer was arrested Thursday on charges of hundreds of sex-offense counts including rape, incest, statutory sexual assault and endangering the welfare of children.
Chester County prosecutors say 54-year-old Kennett Square police Officer Jose Manuel Santiago was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home in Newark, Del.
Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Callahan says Santiago had sexual encounters with three juveniles as young as 10 years old between 1991 and 2000. The sexual assaults continued into the children’s teenage years, authorities say.
The first-degree felony sex charges against Santiago total more than 500 counts, according to the district attorney’s office.
Callahan declined to comment on why it took almost 20 years after the incidents were reported for authorities to make an arrest, reports the Daily Local.
Borough officials say Santiago joined the department in 1998. He had been on disability leave since December 2008 and is now suspended without pay.
"I am discouraged and disappointed to hear of these serious allegations," Kennett Square Mayor Matthew Fetick told the Daily Local. "I will update the community as more information is known and as permitted without violating the rules of disclosure regarding personnel issues."
Santiago is in New Castle County prison awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania. His phone number is unlisted and it was not clear if he had an attorney.
Santiago was the second Kennett Square officer arrested this year, reports the Daily Local. Matthew Thomas Cordone, 36, of West Grove, was arrested after a state trooper allegedly witnessed him involved in a controlled sale of suspected prescription medication on March 2.
