Cops, Courts & Fire -Lower Makefield Township
Newark Police Background Check Triggers Investigation, Arrest of former LMT resident for Indecent Assault
WARNING: The following article contains information about alleged child sexual abuse/assault that may be difficult to read.
A Newark Delaware Police background check triggered an investigation into a former Lower Makefield Township resident now living in Maryland, leading to indecent assault misdemeanor charges stemming from accusations dating back to 2001 that were known by family members.
Marcel LaChance, of Nottingham, Maryland was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Mark
D. Douple on misdemeanor counts of indecent assault, and corruption of minors on December 29. He was released after the hearing on unsecured bail.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Makefield Township Police, in May of 2023 a member of the Newark Police Department in Delaware, background division relayed that while conducting a background investigation into LaChance the police department learned he may have sexually assaulted a minor female during his teenage years into his adulthood. The assaults were believed to have happened within Lower Makefield township at his childhood home.
Lower Makefield Twp Police launched a criminal investigation shortly thereafter, led by detective Peter Lange.
On May 12, 2023, Lange spoke with the victim AKA A.D., whose identity is protected , in court records but is known to police.
A.D. relayed that she is six years younger than LaChance. She stated that from the time she was approximately 9 years old (approximately 2001), until she was approximately 13 years old (approximately 2005), LaChance repeatedly sexually assaulted her. These assaults occurred in a bedroom within LaChance’s residence on Stony Hill Road, Lower Makefield Township, the probable cause alleges.
A.D. detailed that around the time she was 9 years old she asked LaChance to help her with something. He told her “Sure, but you’re going to have to do something for me.” She said that at one point he called her into his room and said, “I’m going to teach you how to be sexy.”
This progressed to abuse that would usually occur in a bedroom when LaChance would come in wearing just his boxer shorts. LaChance would play with her chest or grind his genitals on her. She said that a handful of times she was completely naked, however she said he never penetrated her. A.D. described a few times LaChance tried to get her to give him a “blowjob”, but she said no.
The abuse, the victim said, started when she would have been 9 years old and LaChance was around 15 years old.
The abuse continued until she was 13 years old and he was approximately 19 years old. A.D. said once she grew older and was in her teens she began to fight back. A.D. does not recall him climaxing. A.D. stated it was usually in the bedroom or the living room of the Stony Hill residence when LaChance’s father would take his brother to boy scouts and she was home with only LaChance, according to court records.
At 12 years old, A.D. started to realize how wrong this was. She said she told him they needed to stop. He told her that he would stop when she turned 13 years old. She said he did not stop when she turned 13 years old, and that’s when she started fighting back, which ultimately caused him to stop, police said.
A.D. told a therapist at York College about the assaults sometime in 2011 or 2012, said the probable cause.
In September of 2023 Lange spoke with several contacts in law enforcement, one of which worked for the Cumberland County District Attorney’s office. She reached out to contacts in York County, but authorities were unable able to locate anything associated with A.D.’s report.
Records were purged after 10 years, the law enforcement officials said.
A.D. was able to provide the name of another person she recalled telling. A.D. did not think she told the witness, details of what occurred (at the time), but that in 2008 she told her generally something had happened.
Lange spoke with the witness who recalled being about 15 or 16 years old when A.D. told her that LaChance had been “touching her in a way that was not normal.” She also confirmed that A.D. had confided in her about LaChance’s actions after 2011 or 2012 when she told a therapist, as well as two LaChance family members. As a result, the investigation was stalled.**
In the spring of 2025, your Lange received another call from A.D. She said she had been speaking with the two family members. She stated that she was surprised that we were having trouble getting a candid interview with one of the family members, who she was sure would corroborate her account. However, the other family member told her she was not sure she was willing to talk because she “doesn’t want to pick sides,” according to court records.
After consultation with the District Attorney’s office, NOVA, and A.D., a new investigative strategy, was devised however the logistics proved difficult due to LaChance living in one state, two family members in another, a third family member in another, and finally, A.D. in yet one more state.
According to the probable cause, on June 6, 2025, the victim sent Lange, a copy of a text message from a phone number sent to A.D, a little more than two years prior (May 12, 2023) The text allegedly sent by the suspect reads, “This is Marcel. Wanted to check on how your pregnancy is and how the police interview went. I also wanted to apologize for all past wrongs between us.”
Lange was contacted by a LeChance family member, this past September. He said he wanted to talk.
On September 12, 2025, that family member called and detailed having been told something by A.D. However, he related he “doesn’t have the greatest memory.” The family member told police, “it was a long time ago.” Furthermore, he said, “when she (the victim) was in college, she had a counselor and she told him what happened. I guess they told her to tell me.” He said A.D. “didn’t tell me that they had intercourse, which is what I think she’s saying now, but she said that Marcel had sexually abused her.” However, he went on to say that the conversation, which he thinks occurred during A.D.’s sophomore year of college, left him “thinking they had sex,” says the probable cause.
When asked if there was anything else he could recall, he said that the one family member once found one of A.D.’s earrings in LaChance’s bed. He said he “admonished” LaChance for having her in his bed. Finally, when questioned about A.D.’s claims that the family member told her she should seek civil charges rather than criminal, the family member stated he may have said that. He stated, “she seems believable to me,” court records show.
On September 12, 2025, Lange had a conversation with a third family member. That family member confirmed he was aware of the allegations A.D. levied against LaChance. He recalled first learning about the abuse when he was home from a college break (year not noted) He said, according to police A.D. told him that Marcel would “touch her” from the time she was 7 or 8 years old. He characterized the conversation as “very high level,” indicating that A.D. did not provide many details. According to his recollection, she told him that LaChance would sneak into the room in which she was sleeping. This surprised the family member because he shared a room with LaChance and did not recall LaChance sneaking out. However, the third family member stated that he is a “heavy sleeper.” He provided an additional contemporaneous witness to whom A.D. had confided.
Later that same day, September 12, 2025, Lange interviewed the contemporaneous witness via telephone. After introductions, he was asked if he had knowledge about anything concerning A.D. and contemporaneous witness to which he stated, “Oh, I know what you are talking about.” He corroborated that he and A.D. had a “minimal conversation” over 10 years ago about something that occurred to her when she was a child. He recalled her telling him that “Marcel touched her inappropriately.” Furthermore, he remembered her telling him the touching occurred “more than once.” He recalled a specific incident that A.D. had described to him, according to court records.
A.D. told him, according to court records, a the third family member, A.D., and LaChance were all in the LaChance household sitting in the same room. According to his recollection, A.D. recalled the family member was engrossed in a video game and LaChance “assaulted” A.D. When asked if A.D. had used the word assaulted, he said, no, that was his word. However, it was apparent to him that was what A.D. was describing. He was sure she described being touched in a “sexual nature,” but could not recall if she used the word “Inappropriately” or something else. He said he recalled this incident vividly because both he and A.D. discussed having been surprised that the third family member did not notice anything happening . He also corroborated that the family “had a falling out over this whole situation.”
Finally, Your Affiant spoke to the second family member. She corroborated A.D.’s statement that she was made aware of the incident while A.D. was in college. She said A.D. told her that “he (LaChance) did things to her and [A.D.] didn’t want anything further to do with Marcel.” When pressed on specifics, she recalled that A.D. told her LaChance had “abused her.” Asked about the nature of the abuse, she said she “couldn’t say if it was sexual,” because “those types of details gross me out.”
LeChance, is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Feb 24 and according to online records is represented by William Joshua Buchanan, Esq
Editor’s Note 1: The triggering reason for the background investigation is not identified in court records by authorities.
Editors Note 2: The reference to a “stalled investigation” by authorities paragraph 16 is not detailed further in court records.
Cops
Emergency Crews Prepare for Incoming Blizzard as Lower Bucks Municipalities Declare Storm Plans
Lower Bucks municipalities have declared disaster/snow emergencies in advance of the expected snow storm that the National Weather Service says will dump anywhere between 14 to 18 inches on the area.
A winter storm warning is still in effect from Sunday, Feb 22 to Monday, Feb 23.
Each municipality has its own link. For more information and updates, please click on their associated link.
Bensalem Township – Disaster Emergency declared immediately for the pending snow storm. Click here to see more details.
Bristol Borough – Snow information/requirements have been posted on their website. Click here to see the details.
Bristol Township – Snow Emergency effective 12 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 through 12 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Click here to see more details.
Falls Township – Snow Emergency starts Sunday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. and expires on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6 a.m. Click here for details.
Langhorne Borough – Snow Emergency starts Sunday, Feb. 22 at noon until Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. No parking. Click here for details.
Lower Makefield Township – Snow information has been posted on Meta. Click here to see the details.
Middletown Township – Snow Emergency is in effect from Sunday, Feb. 22 at 12 p.m. to Monday, Feb. 23 at 12 p.m. . Click here to see details.
Morrisville Borough – Snow Emergency is in effect from Sunday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. to Monday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. Click here to see the details.
Newtown Township – A Snow Emergency is in effect from 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 until 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. Click here to see the details.
Penndel Borough – Snow Emergency has been declared from 12 p.m. on Sunday, February 22, 2026, through 12 p.m. on Monday, February 23, 2026. Click here for more details and click here for more on the ordinance.
Tullytown Borough – Snow Emergency proclamation in effect from Sunday Feb. 22 – 6 p.m. to Monday Feb. 23 – 6 p.m. Click here to see more details.
Warminster Township – Disaster Emergency has been declared for the incoming snow storm, effective Sunday Feb. 22, 2026 at 12 p.m. through Tuesday, Feb. 24,2026 at 12 p.m.. Click here to see the details and click here to see the declaration from Township Manager Tom Scott.
Yardley Borough – Snow Emergency proclamation in effect from Sunday Feb. 22 – 4 p.m. to Monday Feb. 23 – 4 p.m. . Click here to see the details. and click here to see declaration/other information from Mayor Caroline Thompson.
The primary concern is safety. Take care of yourselves and check on neighbors and those who may be vulnerable.
Please stay safe, take all necessary precautions, and keep your devices charged.
Click here for updates from the National Weather Service
Click here for PECO’s outage map.
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