NEW YORK – The former federal prosecutor who succeeded Kenneth W. Starr as independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation has been charged with stalking his ex-girlfriend, police said.

Robert W. Ray surrendered to police on Thursday. He was ordered to appear in court at a later date and released, police said.

A complaint filed by Ray's ex-girlfriend says he e-mailed, called and visited her against her wishes after their relationship ended.

Ray, 46, is now in private practice at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. He did not immediately return a message left Friday at his office in Parsippany, N.J. Phone listings for his homes in Manhattan and Long Branch, N.J., could not be found.

Ray's final report on the Whitewater investigation concluded that former President Clinton's mid-1980s Arkansas land venture benefited from criminal activity and that the president and first lady gave factually inaccurate testimony, but there was not enough evidence to prove they had engaged in wrongdoing.

The $70 million probe, which extended beyond Whitewater, began in 1994 and ended on Clinton's last full day in office, when he cut a deal with Ray to avoid possible indictment in the perjury and obstruction probe involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Ray served as federal prosecutor in New York in the 1990s. He also sought the Republican nomination for Senate in New Jersey in 2002, but later dropped out, saying that he wanted to avoid hurting the party with a contentious primary and that there wasn't enough time to campaign effectively.

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