UNION COUNTY, N.C. – The state of North Carolina agreed to pay a $1 million settlement to an 11-year-old boy, who under the care of a child services supervisor, was found handcuffed to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck.
The victim signed the settlement with the state recently to resolve a lawsuit against Union County and Gaston County’s Department of Social Services for missing opportunities to protect him and other children from neglect and abuse, WSOC reported.
The settlement releases the agencies as well as the state Department of Health and Human Services from further liability in the case, said Jay Trehy, attorney for the victim.
The money will be put into a special account which will disburse payments to the victim.
A Union County deputy responded to an animal services complaint in November 2013 when he found the child shivering and handcuffed by his ankle to a porch rail.
Investigators said moments later Dorian Harper appeared on the porch with another child and unleashed a pack of dogs on the deputy. The deputy ran back to his patrol vehicle. The man removed the child from the porch and put the chicken on a barrel.
The boy and four other children in the home were under the care of Wanda Sue Larson, a Union County Department of Social Services supervisor, and her boyfriend, Harper, WSOC reported.
Harper admitted to using a knife to cut the boy’s face, burning him with an electrical wire and handcuffing him to the porch with the chicken around his neck. He was sentenced to 6 to 10 years in prison.
Larson admitted to ignoring the abuse. She entered a plea deal with a sentence of 6 to 17 months and was released in April 2015 because of time served.
