GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) – A man the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office described as a serial sex offender was arrested last week.
Terry Best has been charged with a second-degree forcible sex offense against a young man.
In a news conference Monday, the Sheriff’s Office said it was one of several offenses spanning the past decade.
“We feel the public needs to know and understand that Mr. Best was investigated in 2006 for a case that involved picking up young boys and baiting them back to his home,” said Major Paula Dance of the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office. “In 2012, Mr. Best was charged with a sex offense.” In 2015, Mr. Best was charged yet again with a sex offense.”
Investigators say the 56-year-old lures his victims with alcohol and promises them women.
Once he gets them back to his home, authorities said Best slips a drug in their drink to put them to sleep.
Authorities said he would then assault his victims in their sleep.
Best’s victims ranged in age from 17 years old to their early twenties, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Despite multiple offenses, the Sheriff’s Office said Best was allowed to plea in previous cases, which prevented him from having to register as a sex offender.
Dance said the Sheriff’s Office is hopeful that in this new case Best will be appropriately punished.