Former NC lawmaker posts bond weeks after being charged with child sex offenses

Former state Rep. Cecil Brockman, who was charged last month on child sex charges, posted bond Tuesday, court records show, a day after a judge reduced his bond and added numerous conditions of releas. 

Brockman remained jailed in High Point late Tuesday, authorities said. Once released from jail, Brockman would have to live with his mother and wouldn't be allowed to use social media or a cellphone, according to new conditions of release approved Monday. He also would have to surrender his phone and passport. And he would have to give a DNA sample and fingerprints, court records show. He would also have to be on house arrest and wear a monitoring device, the document said.   

Brockman had been held on a $1.05 million bond until Monday, when the judge agreed to reduce the bond to $250,000. Prosecutors opposed the move.

Prosecutors allege that he met the 15-year-old victim on a dating app and that they lived together for a time. The alleged victim’s cellphone contained videos of illicit acts, according to prosecutors, who said investigators recognized Brockman in some of the videos.

Brockman's lawyer Alec Carpenter said Brockman met the alleged victim on Grindr, an LGBTQ dating site that requires users to be over the age of 18, WXII reported. Carpenter said Brockman thought the victim was of age during their relationship, WXII reported. Assistant District Attorney Avery Crump disputed Carpenter’s claim, noting that the dating app features a disclaimer, saying it has no way to verify users’ ages. 

A court official initially set the $1.05 million bond in part because authorities considered Brockman a flight risk because the alleged victim is from out of state. Authorities previously held him without bail, saying that the lawmaker had motive and resources to flee the state. Authorities alleged in court documents that Brockman had attempted to contact a victim in the hospital and that he attempted to “use his status to gain information on the whereabouts of the victim.”

During a bond hearing Monday, Brockman told a judge: "I would like to know why lies are being accepted without there being a rebuttal to those lies.” 

Brockman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.