Ex-wife turns in former NC GOP candidate for child rape, indecent liberties with a minor

A former Republican candidate for county commission in North Carolina has surrendered to police after being accused of raping a child.

The Independent Tribunereported that former Cabarrus County commissioner candidate Chad Nevada Mockerman, 39, turned himself in to police at around noon on Friday.

Mockerman was charged with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor.

Concord Police said that on August 17 Mockerman's ex-wife had informed them that he had sex with a child younger than 16 in June of 2012. The couple finalized their divorce on Friday, the same day that Mockerman was taken into custody.

An article in the The Herald Weeklyexplained how Mockerman enlisted "a local band, child dancers and family members" when he proposed to his then-current girlfriend on Aug. 9.

“I always thought Amanda was beautiful, but what makes me always desire her is her level of intelligence and how interesting she is,” Mockerman told the paper. “I love how she let’s me be me. She just takes me for who I am.”

Mockerman came in last place with 3 percent of the vote in his bid for the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners earlier this year.