Woman pleads guilty in case of NC child found handcuffed to porch
MONROE, N.C. -- A former social worker has been sentenced to up to 17 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges that arose when a boy in her care was found handcuffed to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck in 2013.
Wanda Sue Larson entered her plea on two felony and two misdemeanor counts in a Monroe courtroom Tuesday, according to CBS affiliate WBTV. She received a 6-to-17-month sentence for one of the felonies and five years probation for the other.
Larson, 58, and her boyfriend, 58-year-old Dorian Harper, were foster parents to the then-11-year-old boy and four other adoptive children. When a deputy responded to an animal service complaint in November 2013, he reportedly saw the child on the porch -- as punishment for killing a chicken on the family farm.
Prosecutors said all five children were victimized, but that the foster child suffered the most. The boy's current foster parent told WBTV that he wouldn't sleep at night and remained fully dressed in case he needed to run away.
They also alleged that Harper had starved the youngest boy and burned him with electrical wires, as well made the kids sleep on the floor with dirty blankets, according to WBTV.
Harper, who accepted a guilty plea in the child abuse case last week, was sentenced to between six and ten years for child abuse and maiming, according to the station.
Under terms of her plea arrangement, Larson was given a suspended sentence for failure to carry out her duties as a Union County social worker. That charge stemmed from her failure to protect the boy and the other children in the home.
Larson apologized in court, saying she wished she had done a better job of protecting the children.