Daughter For Drugs: April Corcoran Allegedly Traded Pre-Teen Daughter For Heroin
April Corcoran, 30, was arrested for allegedly trading her pre-teen daughter for drugs, authorities said on Monday. The transactions in question took place between February 15 and June 6, 2014, where Corcoran gave her daughter, 11, to Shandell Willingham.
The exchange was allegedly made so Willingham, 41, could have sex with Corcoran’s daughter at his apartment and the mother would get free heroin for it. She is also being accused to giving some of the heroin to her daughter by injection.
Corcoran and Willingham are both facing charges of human trafficking and child endangerment, as well as life in prison.
Authorities claim that Willingham is facing 26 felony counts including rape, and the aforementioned human trafficking. Some of the charges are allegedly backed by the taping of his sex with Corcoran’s daughter.
The deal to trade Corcoran’s daughter for drugs became known when the girl visited her father and step-mother at the end of the school year. It was there that she allegedly told her step-mother everything.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine points out that this incident proves how the heroin problem has spread across the state. According to USA Today, DeWine says heroin used to be a problem only in certain parts of the populace, and now it’s everywhere.
#womandv “April Corcoran, 30, of Pleasant Plain, Ohio, was charged with trafficking her 11… http://t.co/iNAgLUoGny pic.twitter.com/dhgOOl4pnC
— Geoffrey M Hurlburt (@BetterChildNC) March 23, 2015
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters explained that this may be the result of the state cracking down on opiate pain killers, causing many to turn to heroin. He claims it’s difficult to prosecute drug dealers when their buyers die from an overdose.
Deters says this is one of the most original problems Ohio has encountered.
“This is unlike any other epidemic we’ve ever seen. Heroin destroys families. Heroin causes people to care about nothing but feeding their habit.”
The evidence of that statement is in the 20-plus shared convictions that Corcoran and Willingham shared in the mother’s daughter-for-drugs deal.
If DeWine and Deters are correct in their statements, this could only be a small percentage of the heroin problem in the state of Ohio.
[Image via Fox News]
