Accused Stalker Banned From UNC Campus For Two Years

Samuel Ferebee, 62, has been banned for two years from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ferebee must also undergo psychiatric treatment.

Ferebee was in court Thursday on two counts of trespassing at UNC-Chapel Hill last July. One of the charges was dropped and Ferebee pled no contest to the other charge.

Ferebee's attorney argued that UNC's campus is public property and everyone has a right to be there. Ferebee said in court that he was on campus to visit a friend and to attend a lecture.

"I'm not there to cause people problems," Ferebee said.

A search of Ferebee's criminal history uncovered 55 charges. The charges include five arrests for stalking, four for breaking and entering and three for trespassing.

There are also single arrests for attempted rape, communicating threats, harassing phone calls, peeping and assault on a female. Several of those charges are outstanding and Ferebee was not convicted of several charges because of plea bargains.

If Ferebee is found on UNC's campus before his two-year ban is up, he could face jail time.

Ferebee's court appearance comes a day after he was arrested in New Bern and charged with peeping, a misdemeanor.

Officials said Ferebee was caught looking into a an 11-year-old's dressing room at a Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Craven County jail officials said Ferebee was released from jail Wednesday afternoon after posting bond.

Ferebee is scheduled to appear before a Craven County judge on Friday.

One visitor in the courtroom Thursday had a special interest in the charges against Ferebee. In 1996, Ferebee was charged with stalking Andrea Hedrick in New Bern. He served six months in jail for stalking her.

Hedrick, who lives in the Triangle area, said she was surprised to hear that Ferebee lived in the area as well.

"Chapel Hill is a perfect place for him to be -- young co-eds. It was hard to believe it was happening all over," she said.

Hedrick said she was in the courtroom Thursday to show Ferebee that she has moved on with her life, and she is no longer living in fear of him.

Thursday marks Ferebee's second appearance in an Orange County courtroom. Monday, Ferebee was in the Orange County courtroom on assault and stalking charges from a March incident at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ferebee pleaded not guilty to charges of stalking and assaulting a female student on the campus. The case was continued until June, but the judge banned Ferebee from public property in the county.

Ferebee, who is banned from UNC and Duke University, also is charged with resisting arrest at Duke last week. He is scheduled to appear in a Durham court on those charges on May 27.

Orange County District Attorney Carl Fox said that Ferebee is proving elusive because of his seemingly innocent tactics.

"The behavior is troublesome and certainly scary to the victims. It has to meet the legal definition and a couple of the charges are going to fall short," Fox said.

Ferebee's court appearances date back 12 years to an attempted rape conviction in Craven County that was overturned.

Fox said Ferebee can only test the limits of the law so much until it catches up with him.

"Obviously, he knows the law. He knows how far to push the envelope, and he pushes it right up to the line," he said.

Fox said it may take a judge looking at all of Ferebee's charges to determine he is a menace to the public.