On Return From Iraq, Ex-Hostage Arrested

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - A man who spent more than three months as a hostage in Iraq was jailed the day after he returned home on charges of failing to pay child support.

Bobby Sherrill, 39, a Parkton native who now lives in Meridian, Miss., spent about 3 1/2 hours in the county jail last Thursday before District Judge Sol Cherry released him without bond after he made the back payments. He arrived home from Iraq on Wednesday.

``I'd rather be here than there,'' he said Thursday from jail.

Sherrill owed $1,425 in child-support payments to his estranged wife, Terri Sherrill, of Swansboro, court records show. They have two children.

Sherrill, a technician for Lockheed, said he was unable get any mail out after he was taken hostage Aug. 30 in Kuwait.

Sherrill was supposed to pay $600 a month in payments and attorney fees, records show.

Terri Sherrill has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Ronnie Mitchell of Fayetteville, was out of town.

It was not clear whether the charges stemmed from payments missed only while Sherrill was a hostage, said his father, Joe Sherrill.

Hundreds of Americans were held captive after Iraq invaded Kuwait Aug. 2, but all have been freed by Iraqi President Saddam

Hussein.