Sheriff suspended, accused of exploiting power for sex

By Jennifer Emert

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    SWAIN COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — District Attorney Ashely Hornsby Welch is calling for the removal of Swain County’s Sheriff Curtis Cochran from office after he was charged with several crimes.

Paperwork filed with the state court in North Carolina indicates charges were filed against 72-year-old Cochran on Friday, June 27, including felonious restraint, assault on a female, sexual battery, and solicitation to commit prostitution. Cochran is also charged in Tribal court for violations of the Cherokee Code, more specifically, two counts of oppression in office and one count of abusive sexual contact. According to the court documents, the acts committed by the Sheriff also constituted corruption while in office. Court paperwork filed Friday showed Sheriff Cochran was released on a $2,500 secured bond, but was also required to provide a DNA sample.

The charges revolve around two recent incidents.

In the complaint filed Friday, court paperwork explains the Cherokee Indian Police Department received a report from a female enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians that Sheriff Cochran had sexually assaulted her on the Qualla Boundary.

According to the filing, this series of assaults led to a criminal investigation involving the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, Tribal Police, and the FBI. News 13 is not revealing the identities of the female victims.

The woman said she flagged down the sheriff’s vehicle after walking away from a home on June 22 after fighting with her boyfriend. Cochran offered to let the woman sit in the vehicle because she was upset and crying. She accepted the offer, “believing it was intended to help diffuse the situation,” according to the paperwork filed by District Attorney Ashley Welch.

The paperwork claimed Cochran drove her from the location and began touching her, despite her objections. The woman claims the sheriff then asked her to perform oral sex on him, asking her, “How much she charges for oral sex?” to which she responded, “She doesn’t know because she doesn’t do that.”

At one point, the woman said the sheriff pulled over into a gravel area on the side of the road in Swain County, got out of the vehicle and went around to the passenger side. The woman claimed Cochran blocked her ability to exit and asked for oral sex, telling her, “All she will have to do is say his name if she got into trouble and he would help her.” Continuing to deny his request, Cochran got back in the car and was driving toward her residence when he began “rubbing his crotch.” She claimed to have witnessed the sheriff touching himself inappropriately. When investigators pulled video from cameras near the woman’s apartment complex, she’s seen exiting the vehicle quickly, appearing to be upset and not looking back.

While investigators were looking into the initial sexual assault claims, Assistant Chief Josh Taylor observed a vehicle matching the sheriff’s Dodge Durango SUV on the boundary on June 23. He followed the SUV, which he described as “driving with an evasive nature with the intent to elude him.”

Assistant Chief Taylor eventually caught up to the sheriff and stopped him in the driveway of the Tsali Care Center. When Taylor approached the vehicle, he found the sheriff driving a different woman who appeared to be upset. However, when Taylor asked if she was OK, she indicated at the time she was. The paperwork shows Assistant Chief Taylor asked the sheriff if everything was OK. Sheriff Cochran indicated everything was fine and that the woman had called him from the jail to give her a ride. Taylor said he later learned that wasn’t true.

Documents said law enforcement let the sheriff go, but continued to follow him. Taylor said he confronted the woman after Cochran dropped her off, and she told him “she was scared of the ‘sick, perverted old man.'” She claimed Cochran had touched her all over while they were riding down the road and had wanted her to do things that she did not want to do.

The woman later agreed to talk with law enforcement and claimed Sheriff Cochran offered her a ride while she was walking after being released from the jail in Cherokee. She said she recognized Cochran and agreed to the ride. When they started driving, she said Cochran immediately began touching her hand and arm. She said he later rubbed her leg and breast, and “when she tried to move away, he continued to reach further to touch her.” Documents said she went to get out of the vehicle, Cochran asked if “she was sure she wanted to get out.” She got out of the car and entered the location very upset, according to investigators.

According to a news release from Welch’s office, Cochran is suspended and has a July 7 hearing in Graham County to review the suspension.

Sheriff Curtis Cochran was sworn into office in December 2006.

The Swain County Sheriff’s Office has provided News 13 with the following statement:

As many citizens of Swain County have heard through various media outlets, on June 27, 2025, an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation resulted in criminal charges being levied against Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran. Subsequently, Superior Court Judge Tessa Sellers ordered the immediate suspension of Sheriff Curtis Cochran from the Office of Sheriff of Swain County.

Under North Carolina law, the Chief Deputy is to perform all the duties of the sheriff during the suspension period until the statutory process of filling the vacancy is completed.

Please feel secure that there will be no disruption in the services provided by the Swain County Sheriff’s Office as a result of this situation. The men and women of the Swain County Sheriff’s Office remain committed to serving and protecting the citizens and residents of Swain County.

Since this involves a criminal investigation, the Sheriff’s Office is not in a position to make any further statements.

News 13 has reached out to a number of agencies to better understand the charges and the next steps.

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