A New Hanover County jury found a Wilmington man guilty of second-degree rape, second-degree sexual offense, and interfering with witnesses in New Hanover County Criminal Superior Court on Jan. 30, according to a news release from the District Attorney’s Office.
Rodney Elroy Cobbs, 64, was sentenced to the highest sentence allowed by North Carolina law, a minimum of 26.4 years and a maximum of 42 years in prison, according to the release.
When the 60-year-old victim was leaving her close friend and neighbor’s house on July 30, 2021, Cobbs offered to walk her home. The release describes Cobbs as a “friend of a friend” to the victim.
He asked to use the victim’s restroom. While inside the victim’s apartment, he raped her. The victim locked herself inside of her bathroom and called for emergency services. Cobbs, also known by the street name ‘Candyman,’ left the apartment complex.
The victim received treatment at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. A sexual assault nurse examiner “observed injury consistent with sexual assault and took evidence swabs from her body,” according to the release.