Sex offender arrested after evading authorities for 11 years

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A convicted sex offender who evaded authorities for nearly 11 years following his conviction has been arrested in South Carolina. 

The Anderson Independent-Mail reports the Anderson County Sheriff's Office report says 68-year-old Thomas Eddie Ferguson was arrested Tuesday.

Ferguson was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison and five years of probation in September 2006, after pleading guilty to third-degree sexual conduct in connection with the 1992 rape of an 18-year-old girl.

Ferguson never reported to prison. Deputies believed he moved around South Carolina, Florida and Georgia while working as a carpet cleaner and in the hospital uniform retail business.

He is now charged with failure to appear after release for a felony, failure to register as a sex offender and escape. It's unclear if he has a lawyer.