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Brevard woman says deputies took 40 minutes to respond to sexual harassment call

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County woman said she was harassed by a stranger while out metal detecting on the beach Tuesday, and that it took almost 40 minutes for deputies to respond.

She shared her story on social media, which included pictures of the man, and it has been shared on Facebook more than 3,500 times.

Corrine McClanahan, of Melbourne Beach, said she told the story on Facebook to warn others in her community about the man.

She also wanted to let the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office know that she thinks the time it took deputies to respond to her calls for help at the beach was unacceptable.

McClanahan said the man came up to her and tried to strike up a conversation.

“He was asking me if he could be a porn star, pointing down to his groin, and very much parading that around,” she said.

She said he would try and block her path as she tried to walk away, and she then called 911.

“And they basically, up to the point where he went off the boardwalk, got off the phone with me, because they felt that he wasn’t a threat,” she said. “And really, he was on the other side of the boardwalk waiting for me to come over.”

McClanahan said she stood by the ocean’s edge, frozen in fear, hoping to see an officer respond to her call.

She called her husband, ran to her car and drove a short distance away until deputies arrived nearly 40 minutes later.

“It’s so disappointing that I wasn’t helped when I needed help,” she said.

When McClanahan asked what took so long, the deputies told her they were busy responding to a domestic violence call.

Channel 9’s Jeff Levkulich asked the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office for an incident report and whether there were any problems with the way the call was handled.

Levkulich has not received a response.