Man being held under $4 million bond, accused of kidnapping, statutory rape of child

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - A Wilmington man is being held in the New Hanover County Jail under a $4 million dollar bond. Kenneth Nicholas Rock is facing nearly a dozen serious charges, many of them related to sexual offenses against children.

Rock was first arrested in January, accused of sexually exploiting a girl who lived in the Florida panhandle. According to published reports, Rock contacted the girl on Snapchat, posing as a teenager and asking her to send him suggestive pictures of herself. After she sent some pictures, authorities say he asked for more explicit images, threatening to share the pictures she’d already sent him if she didn’t comply.

Police were alerted, and following a two month investigation, the Lynn Haven Police Department took out arrest warrants which were served by the Wilmington Police Department and the Violent Fugitive Task Force. When police arrested Rock at his home in Wilmington, they also seized evidence and anticipated that additional charges would be forthcoming.

Late last month, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office took out additional warrants against Rock. He is now facing charges for a string of additional crimes he allegedly committed against another underage victim. The Brunswick County offenses are said to have happened in April, June and December of 2021 and in January of 2022. It was not immediately clear if they all involve the same alleged victim, but the charges include first degree kidnapping, statutory rape of a child under the age of 15, and indecent liberties with a child.

According to the warrants for his arrest, the victim was 12 years old, and Rock was 32 at the time of the offense.

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