A Democratic North Carolina legislator accused of engaging in sexual activity with a minor appeared in court for the first time Friday, a day after a medical emergency postponed the initial hearing in the case.

State Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of a statutory sex offense with a child and two additional counts of indecent liberties with a child. Brockman appeared in court on video from a hospital bed.

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Guilford County prosecutors said the alleged victim, who is 15, lived together with the 41-year-old Brockman for a period near Atlanta, Georgia, the city where prosecutors say they had met on a dating app. The two moved to High Point during the summer, according to a summary of the allegations read by prosecutors. Brockman has represented High Point in the legislature for over a decade.

Atlanta is about a seven-hour drive away from the state legislature in Raleigh. Brockman had previously raised the ire of fellow Democratic lawmakers for missing a number of votes in the House. He had blamed some of his legislative absences on unspecified medical issues.

Guilford County District Attorney Avery Crump said Brockman called emergency dispatchers on Oct. 5 to report a missing friend. Davidson County dispatchers realized Brockman was referring to a juvenile and Brockman said he had been tracking the person using an app, prosecutors said. After sending a ride-share vehicle to pick up the juvenile in Davidson County, the driver couldn’t find the alleged victim and canceled the ride, according to prosecutors. At that point, High Point police became involved and later, the State Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation, prosecutors said.

The alleged victim’s cell phone was searched and 14 videos of illicit acts were found, according to prosecutors. The SBI recognized Brockman in the videos, the prosecutor said. The footage showed acts consistent with what the victim described to them during an interview, prosecutors said.

Brockman tried to contact the victim, who was being treated at a nearby hospital, and attempted to push his way through a locked door at the facility, according to the district attorney. Authorities alleged in court documents that he attempted to contact a victim in the hospital and that he attempted to “use his status to gain information on the whereabouts of the victim.”

Brockman and a legislative aide of his haven’t responded to requests for comment. Brockman’s attorney noted in court to a Guilford County judge that Brockman doesn’t have a criminal record. The judge set a bond of $1.05 million and said Brockman should have no contact with the alleged victim. The judge argued that Brockman was a flight risk because the victim is from out of state. Authorities previously held him without bail, saying that the lawmaker has the resources to flee the state.

Brockman appeared to cry when the bond amount was read. His next court date is Nov. 13.

Brockman has served in the legislature for over a decade. This week, he has faced a growing number of demands for his resignation from Republicans and Democrats in the state House of Representatives, as well as Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.

The North Carolina Democratic Party also called on Brockman to resign. “The profound seriousness of these criminal charges makes it impossible for him to effectively represent his community,” the party said in a statement.

If Brockman resigns, the governor would be required by state law to appoint a replacement who is recommended by members of the Guilford County Democratic Party. This process is currently playing out in House District 47, where the Robeson County Republican Party earlier this week nominated John Lowery to replace his brother, state Rep. Jarrod Lowery, who resigned from his seat to take a federal government job in Washington.

If Brockman doesn't resign, the House could vote to expel him from office. That's a rare measure that was used semi-frequently in the 18th and 19th centuries, but only a single time since 1880. In most cases where politicians have been arrested in recent history they've resigned quickly after their charges became public, or just before.

There are no set rules for expelling a state lawmaker, so the exact process would be up to House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican. Hall would appoint a special committee to lay out the case for expelling Brockman, which would also be in charge of setting the rules for the process: Whether it would require a simply majority of the 120 N.C. House members or a higher bar.

In 2008, the only expulsion in modern history, the House voted 109-5 to remove Wilmington Democratic Rep. Thomas Wright from office after he was charged with using campaign funds for personal purchases and abusing his political power to get a loan. He later was convicted and spent 6 years in prison. In a separate 1996 case, Alamance County Republican Rep. Ken Miller was accused of licking a 16-year-old girl working as a high school page at the legislature and sexually harassing multiple other women working in the building. Miller didn't resign, and the House didn't view his behavior as rising to the level of expulsion. His fellow lawmakers voted to formally censure him, essentially a public rebuke that nevertheless allowed him to remain in office.

As for Brockman, the charges have shocked some who know him.

“Obviously, we don't know if they're true or proven,” said Kathy Kirkpatrick, the chairwoman of the Guilford County Democratic Party. “I haven't seen the evidence. But this, to me, would have been totally out of character for this gentleman. I never … never in a million years, thought this was something he would be capable of."

Brockman’s arrest comes as Democrats are trying to block Republican-written bills from becoming law — and Brockman’s case could have an impact on those efforts.

Democratic Gov. Josh Stein this year vetoed several bills opposed by Democrats. Legislators can override Stein’s vetoes by passing bills with 60% support. Republicans hold a veto-proof majority in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives, where they came one seat short in the most recent elections.

If Brockman is out and all other House members are present, Republicans only need one Democrat to vote with the GOP, or to be absent from the vote, to override Stein's veto.