SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – A convicted murderer displaced due to Hurricane Florence is accused of attacking a woman as she slept and raping her, according to Southern Pines police.
Freeman Scott Ireland, 37, of Winnabow, faces a second-degree forcible rape charge.
At about 11 p.m. Monday night, a woman told police a man she knew sexually assaulted her in her apartment in Southern Pines.
When police arrived, Ireland was still in the apartment.
Ireland was on "supervised release" by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction after serving more than 20 years for second degree murder and armed robbery in Brunswick County.
He was displaced from Brunswick County due to hurricane storm damage and was looking to relocate to Moore County.
“There is no place in our community for predators, sexual or otherwise," said Southern Pines Police Chief Bob Temme. "I have worked closely with our law enforcement partners at the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Division of Adult Correction, to ensure that an additional arrest warrant was issued for Freeman Scott Ireland to further provide the highest level of safety possible, not only for the victim in this case, but for the entire community as well.”
Ireland was incarcerated under a $500,000 secured bond.