A former Aberdeen police lieutenant was arrested Wednesday morning on 10 felony child sex charges following a months-long investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Leigh Ann Brooks appeared before a magistrate in Hoke County and was denied bond, according to the SBI.
Charges Span Statutory Rape to Indecent Liberties
Brooks faces four counts of felony statutory rape or sex offense of a child, five counts of felony indecent liberties with a child, and one count of felony sex offense in a parental role, as reported by ABC11 News. SBI agents took Brooks into custody and transported her to the Hoke County Detention Center, where individuals arrested on felony warrants in the county are typically processed and given initial magistrate appearances, according to Hoke County Government.
The station's report notes that Brooks is a former lieutenant with the Aberdeen Police Department. Her arrest happened in Hoke County, and she is expected to make her first court appearance soon, per the same account.
Investigation Began in December
The case traces back to December 2, 2025, when the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation began looking into an allegation of sexual assault reported to the Aberdeen Police Department. The Aberdeen police chief had asked the SBI to investigate the allegation, the outlet's report states. The SBI later presented its investigation findings to the Hoke County District Attorney's Office, which is part of Prosecutorial District 29 — a jurisdiction covering both Moore County, where Aberdeen sits, and neighboring Hoke County, under elected District Attorney Mike Hardin, according to the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys. That structure explains why prosecutors in Hoke County, rather than Moore County, ultimately filed charges rooted in an Aberdeen police complaint.
The SBI said the investigation remains ongoing. Aberdeen is a small municipality of roughly 6,350 residents in southern Moore County, about 38 miles southwest of Fayetteville, and its police department serves a town of fewer than 7,000 people, according to the UNC School of Government.
What the Charges Could Mean Legally
The four statutory rape counts alone carry significant legal weight. Under North Carolina General Statute § 14-27.23, statutory rape of a child by an adult is a Class B1 felony that requires a mandatory minimum active prison sentence of 300 months, or 25 years, upon conviction, according to FindLaw.
The single count of felony sex offense in a parental role falls under North Carolina General Statute § 14-27.31, which applies to someone who engages in a sexual act while acting as a substitute parent or custodian residing in a minor's home. That charge is classified as a Class E felony carrying potential prison terms of up to 63 months, per WomensLaw.org. The five indecent liberties counts fall under North Carolina General Statute § 14-202.1, a Class F felony carrying between 13 and 59 months in prison that does not legally require physical contact to constitute an offense, according to DeMent Askew Johnson & Marshall.
Any conviction on these charges would also trigger mandatory lifetime registration on North Carolina's Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry, since state law requires registry inclusion for all Class B1, E, and F child sexual felony convictions, per the General Assembly of North Carolina. Exactly how a judge would weigh multiple counts together would depend on North Carolina's Structured Sentencing Act, which calculates penalties using offense severity classes and a defendant's prior criminal record level, according to Patrick Roberts Law.
Part of a Broader Pattern in the Region
The case follows other recent SBI-led investigations into allegations against figures in positions of authority. In March, the agency's work led to felony charges against a former Wake County teacher and youth pastor, illustrating a pattern of independent state inquiries into trusted community figures, as Hoodline previously reported. Aberdeen police have also been involved in other serious felony investigations in recent weeks, including an August case in which charges against an 18-year-old driver were escalated after a local resident suffered a broken jaw during a neighborhood dispute.
