Former Swain County, NC, sheriff now faces rape charge, court records say
Curtis Cochran, the mountain North Carolina sheriff who resigned earlier this month after he was charged with sexual assault, now faces a second-degree forcible rape charge.
A grand jury indicted Cochran, 72, on Monday. The indictment alleges that he “did ravish and carnally know” a woman “by force and against the victim’s will” in or around June.
The former sheriff retired on July 1 after District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch sought to remove him from office through the courts.
He also faces charges of sexual battery, soliciting prostitution, driving left of center and assault on a female, according to the courthouse clerk’s office.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Cochran has posted bond and was released from the jail on Tuesday, a sheriff’s office receptionist said.
Multiple women have made allegations against him, according to court records.
A Cherokee tribe member told police and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation that he picked her up in his Dodge Durango, touched her despite her objections, repeatedly urged her to perform oral sex on him and pulled out his penis in front of her. She said it happened June 22.
Another woman also said the sheriff touched her inappropriately while giving her a ride. That allegation surfaced as police investigated the first.
The rape indictment names a third woman.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.