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Evacuee accused of raping woman he bunked with during Florence
Southern Pines, N.C. — A Brunswick County man has been arrested after authorities said he raped a woman in Southern Pines on Monday night.
Southern Pines police said that the victim reported that a man who had been staying in her apartment sexually assaulted her while she was sleeping at about 11 p.m.
Officers who arrived at the apartment found Freeman Scott Ireland, 37, inside and charged him with second-degree forcible rape.
Authorities said Ireland, who relocated to Moore County after he was displaced from his home by Hurricane Florence, is currently on supervised release by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety after serving 20 years in prison for a conviction on charges of second-degree murder and armed robbery.
Ireland was being held at the Moore County Detention Center under $500,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 9.