NEBRASKA CITY - Joshua S. Mockerman, 40, of Nebraska City is charged in Otoe County with sexual assault of a child between 2019 and 2023. He was held Monday on a $1 million bond.

A Nebraska Attorney General’s Office affidavit says police were investigating suspicions of sexual assault involving a 12-year-old girl , but the girl did not disclose any sexual contact during interviews in 2020. She again denied sexual contact in a 2021 interview with a police investigator.

In 2024, the girl’s mother told police her daughter had disclosed a sexual relationship, but had lied during the first two interviews. Prosecutors say, during the third forensic interview,  the girl disclosed a sexual relationship since she was 13.

The girl later agreed to a phone call with Mockerman that was recorded by investigators.

First degree sexual assault of a child carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has been appointed special prosecutor in the case.