According to court records, Cochran solicited a woman for prostitution and also grabbed her breast and rubbed her thigh “by force and against the will of the other person.”

Shortly after Cochran’s arrest, District Attorney Ashely Welch filed a petition for his removal from office. That petition explains the details of the alleged offenses in more detail.

The petition claims that on the evening of Sunday, June 22, the Cherokee Indian Police Department received a report from a woman, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, that Cochran had sexually assaulted her while on the Qualla Boundary.

“[The woman] reported that she and her boyfriend both left home after a verbal altercation the afternoon of June 22, 2025, and were both walking along US 19 between Adams Creek and Jenkins Grocery when Ms. Smith sees what she believes to be a law enforcement vehicle traveling US 19. Ms. Smith flagged down the vehicle, a Dodge Durango, hoping the officer can help her,” the petition reads.

The driver of the vehicle, who the woman’s boyfriend referred to at the time as “Curtis” offered to let the woman sit in the vehicle. Upset and crying, she accepted, believing Cochran intended to help diffuse the situation. The petition claims that as soon as Cochran began driving, he started to touch the victim, continuing desptire her objections.

“Curtis immediately took my left pinky and began rubbing it against his polo shirt as we were going by the sand bluff. By the time we got to Jenkins Grocery, Curtis began rubbing and squeezing my left breast with his right hand. When Curtis rubbed my left breast, he commented that my breast did not feel real and said, 'show me.' I did not show him my breast. I was wearing a camisole and Curtis tried to put his hand under my shirt through the neckline of my top. I would estimate his fingers went several inches into the top of my shirt. I pushed his hand away and told him that I didn't like that,” a corresponding affidavit signed by the woman reads.

At this point, Cochran also allegedly asked her how much she charges for oral sex. When she informed Cochran she doesn’t do that, he continued to urge her to perform that act and even pulled over into a gravel area on the side of the road, got out of the vehicle, went over to her side “so as to block her ability to exit” and said that if she performed oral sex, “all she will have to do is say his name if she got into trouble and he will help her.”

“After expressing his disappointment that [the woman] would not perform oral sex on him, the Sheriff takes [her] back towards her residence. Prior to turning left onto Adams Creek Road, the Sheriff begins rubbing his crotch. After turing on Adams Creek and traveling up the road, [the woman] observes Sheriff Cochran take his penis out of his pants and sees in her peripheral vision that he is moving his hand up and down while grunting,” the petition reads.

Cochran allegedly urged the woman to keep secret what had transpired when he dropped her off at home.

“Video cameras obtained outside [the woman's] home show the Sheriff's vehicle pull up near [her] home and show her exiting his car quickly, appearing to be upset and not looking back as she got out,” the petition reads.

The woman informed CIPD officers, and an investigation, which included assistance from both the FBI and NCSBI, commenced.

“Information received from the investigation corroborated [the woman's] allegations,” the petition reads.

But that wasn't the end of things.

“While law enforcement kept investigating the first report of sexual assault, Assistant Chief Josh Taylor observed a silver unmarked Dodge Durango SUV matching the Sheriff's law enforcement vehicle on the Boundary driving suspiciously at approximately 16:10 (4:10 p.m.) near the Cherokee Indian Police Department,” the petition reads.

Taylor followed the sheriff’s car, and Cochran allegedly attempted to elude him, but Taylor eventually caught up and stopped him in the driveway of the new Tsali Care Center.

“Once the Sheriff was stopped, a female was found to be in the car with him who had just been released from the Cherokee Indian Police Department jail,” the petition reads, adding that the woman appeared upset but said she was OK. 

Taylor decided to let Cochran go, but law enforcement followed the vehicle until it stopped at the Catamount Travel Center. When that woman went inside, law enforcement followed her and made contact.

“Law enforcement approached [the woman] inside the Catamount Travel Center store and observed that she was visibly upset in that she was trembling and appeared to be about to cry. [The woman] informed law enforcement she was scared of that 'sick, perverted old man,' Curtis Cochran, who 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 petition reads.

While that woman refused to go to CIPD on June 23, she did submit to an interview the next day at her residence. Her story was similar to that of the woman he’d allegedly solicited earlier, saying Cochran picked her up as she was walking along the road after having been released from jail in Cherokee. Like with the other woman, he began touching her breasts and leg without consent. However, once he realized law enforcement was following him, he dropped her off at the travel center.

“Defendant Curtis Cochran has shown on multiple occasions that he is willing to misuse the power and authority inherent to the office of Sheriff for improper and criminal personal gain. Defendant is an independent constitutionally elected officer which (comes with) considerable power. He has used his office and power as the Sheriff to get at least two women to trust him, get in the car with him looking for help, only to be sexually assaulted,” the petition ultimately concludes.

Cochran was issued a $2,500 bond for the misdemeanor charges and $15,000 for the felony.

Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Tessa Sellers suspended Cochran and set a hearing in Graham County for July 7 to review the suspension. She set a final determination in Swain County for July 21 on the petition to remove Cochran.