The Delaware State Police have arrested 52-year-old Darren Gingerich of Greenwood, Delaware on numerous counts of sexual abuse and assault following an investigation that began earlier this week.
Officials said on the afternoon of May 15, 2023, an 18-year-old woman responded to Troop 5 to report that she had been threatened by Darren Gingerich the previous day.
State Police detectives learned that Gingerich had been at an event with the victim when he forced her to leave early. Once they left, Gingerich took the victim’s cell phone and drove her to an isolated location police said. The victim tried to exit the car, but Gingerich pointed a handgun at her and threatened to kill her according to a police statement Friday. Gingerich eventually drove the victim back to her home, and when he left she went to Troop 5 to report the incident.
While the victim was at Troop 5, troopers were dispatched to Gingerich’s residence on Hunters Cove Road in Greenwood regarding a house fire. Firefighters from the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Company extinguished the flames, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal responded to investigate. The State Fire Marshal learned that Gingerich had intentionally set his residence on fire, and EMS personnel had taken Gingerich to the hospital for medical treatment police said.
Once the fire was extinguished, troopers secured the residential scene. On May 16, detectives from the Criminal Investigations Unit executed a search warrant on the home and recovered several firearms. Gingerich was released from the hospital later that day, taken to Troop 4 by troopers, and charged with the following crimes:
- Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony (Felony)
- Kidnapping Second Degree (Felony)
- Aggravated Menacing (Felony)
- Terroristic Threatening
- Malicious Interference with Emergency Communications
Gingerich was also charged by the State Fire Marshal with Arson Second Degree, a felony.
Gingerich was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $97,200 total cash bond.
Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Unit continued to investigate Gingerich’s past interactions with the victim. Detectives discovered that Gingerich had sexually and physically abused the victim repeatedly since she was eight years old police said. Detectives subsequently charged Gingerich with the following additional crimes:
- Rape Second Degree (Felony) – 3 counts
- Attempted Rape Second Degree (Felony)
- Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child (Felony)
- Unlawful Sexual Contact First Degree (Felony) – 4 counts
- Providing Obscenity Material to a Juvenile (Felony)
- Unlawful Sexual Contact Second Degree (Felony) – 2 counts
- Sexual Abuse of a Child by a Person of Trust Second Degree (Felony)
Gingerich was arraigned on these charges by Justice of the Peace Court 2, and he remains incarcerated at Sussex Correctional Institution on an additional $361,000 cash bond.