New details emerge in former NC lawmaker Cecil Brockman's case as judge reduces his bail
Published in News & Features
RALEIGH, N.C. — A judge significantly reduced former state Rep. Cecil Brockman’s bail on Monday in a hearing that revealed new details in the case, in which he is accused of sex crimes with a minor.
The bail, which a different judge originally set at $1,050,000, was reduced to $250,000 over the objections of Guilford County District Attorney Avery Crump, who called Brockman a “flight risk.”
Judge O. Henry Willis, who presided over Monday’s hearing, also ruled that Brockman will be subject to house arrest if released from jail, and will be banned from contacting the victim or using social media until his trial.
Brockman, who is charged with two counts each of indecent liberties with a child and statutory sex offense with a person who is 15 years old or younger, resigned from his seat in the legislature last week.
He appeared virtually at Monday’s hearing from custody. While he did not testify, he frequently interrupted the proceedings as the prosecution argued against lowering his bond.
“Lies are being told, your honor,” Brockman said, prompting Willis to admonish him.
Brockman’s lawyer, Alec Carpenter, said Brockman believed the alleged victim was an adult and was unaware of his real age until his arrest.
“He had zero idea that this individual was underage,” Carpenter said.
Crump rebutted this claim, saying it was “obvious” from looking at and speaking with the individual that he was a minor.
Furthermore, she said, “we have evidence that he knew the juvenile was underage.”
Details of hospital confrontation, arrest
Crump revealed several other new details about Brockman’s case Monday and told the judge she expected further charges to come against the former lawmaker.
Crump said Brockman personally tried to gain access to the alleged victim twice while he was in the hospital, and alleged he did so with the intent of retrieving the individual’s phone and deleting any evidence of their relationship.
Carpenter rejected this claim, saying Brockman only went to the hospital because “he cared very much about this person.”
An agent from the State Bureau of Investigation said at the hearing that, on one occasion, Brockman attempted to become a patient at the hospital in order to reach the alleged victim. After being confronted by hospital staff, he then tried to push through a locked door to get to him.
When Willis asked Crump why the victim was in the hospital in the first place, they conferred privately outside the courtroom to discuss what the judge later described as “confidential” medical information.
Crump also said that Brockman had been under police surveillance prior to his arrest. During that period, she said, officers saw him leave his apartment with a packed suitcase and white trash bag, the latter of which he later threw away at a gas station.
It was at that point that he was arrested, she said.
Police seized the alleged victim’s phone and found 14 videos of sexual acts, two of which showed Brockman’s face, Crump said.
She said investigators were continuing to review other electronic devices that may contain further evidence.
Brockman’s next court date is scheduled for Jan. 16.
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