NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A Wilmington man has been found guilty of second degree rape, second degree sexual offense and interfering with witnesses in New Hanover County superior court on Tuesday.
64-year-old Rodney Elroy Cobbs, street name “Candyman” raped a 60-year-old victim in her apartment in July 2021. The victim was leaving her close friend’s house when Cobbs offered to drop her off. When they arrived, Cobbs asked to use her restroom and while in the apartment, sexually assaulted her.
After the rape, the victim was able to lock herself in the bathroom and Cobbs left the apartment. She then called 911.
The victim was then treated at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Emergency Department by a sexual assault nurse examiner who observed an injury consistent with sexual assault and took evidence swabs.
Detectives were able to identify the offender and Wilmington Police Department detective Cardiellea Barksdale compiled a photographic lineup and the victim
identified Cobbs as the man who sexually assaulted her.
The sexual assault evidence collection kit was submitted to the North Carolina State Crime Lab Forensic Biology section for analysis and a match was made to Cobbs.
While in the New Hanover County jail, Cobbs attempted to hire a hitman to ensure
the victim and another witness would not be present to testify against him. Cobbs approached an inmate who later contacted the lead investigator to warn her of this plan.
Cobbs has a lengthy criminal history.
The man was charged with second degree rape in February of 1979 but those charges were later dismissed. Cobbs was convicted of felony breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, and assault on a female in the early 1980’s. Cobbs was convicted of attempted second degree rape in November 1985.
The North Carolina Sexual Offender and Public Protection Registry was not enacted until 1996 and, thus, Cobbs was not subject to this law.
Cobbs was convicted of second degree kidnapping and common law robbery in New Hanover County in June of 1987. Cobbs posed as a potential homebuyer and attacked the real estate agent assigned to show him a house. He was released from prison ten years later.
Cobbs was ultimately ordered to register as a sexual offender for exposing himself to a minor child in Wake County in 2011. He was still registered as a sexual offender at
“I fear for any woman who finds herself in this man’s path,” Assistant District Attorney Connie Jordan said. “After a long career as a criminal and sexual predator, he will likely spend the rest of his natural life in prison.”
Superior Court Judge R. Kent Harrell sentenced Cobbs to the highest sentence allowed under North Carolina law, a minimum of 26.4 years and a maximum of 42 years in prison.
If Cobbs survives to his release, he will be required to register as a recidivist sexual offender for the remainder of his natural lifetime.
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