possible triggers follow
Late Monday, Wanda Larson, the former lead child protection supervisor for the Department of Social Services in Union County, North Carolina, was formally indicted for abusing an 11-year-old boy for whom she was legal guardian. Larson and her live-in boyfriend, Dorian Harper, were indicted on 21 counts of child and animal abuse.
For those who don't know, the boy was found last month chained to a porch in mid-20s weather and with a dead chicken hanging around his neck. Authorities removed the boy and five others from Larson and Harper's home after finding disgusting conditions--including feces on the floor and no running water. As bad as that is, according to the indictment things were far, far worse.
According to the indictment: The boy was chained to a piece of railroad track in his room. Once, while trying to escape, he broke his wrist.
Harper once cut the boy’s face with a knife, according to the indictment, leaving a 2-inch scar. He’s also accused of using an electrical wire to burn the boy’s face near his eye. The boy was never taken to the hospital for treatment, the indictment stated.
The couple is accused of disabling the boy’s finger, leaving it permanently injured. As a result of an assault by the couple, the indictment states, a severe cut between his fingers got infected.
In a case that has garnered international headlines, Harper and Larson now face a combined 21 charges, including several counts of felony child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and maiming. They were also indicted for cruelty to animals for not adequately feeding their orange Basset hound.
All of this allegedly took place between August and the time the 11-year old was found in November. And that's not even counting the numerous times that
the boy's relatives complained about how Larson and Harper were treating the boy without any action being taken, as well as a report last year that
the boy was going around the neighborhood begging for food.
Investigators believe that Harper was the primary abuser, but Larson failed to report it. For her nonfeasance, Larson was fired from DSS last month and was slapped with an additional charge of willful dereliction of duty as a public official. A few weeks later, Harper was fired from his job as an ER nurse at Carolinas Medical Center-Union. Both are still on jail on over $500,000 bond apiece. No word yet on how much jail time they're in for, but it goes without saying that these people need to be kept locked up for as long as legally possible.