MONROE, N.C. (AP) — The child abuse trial for a North Carolina man accused of chaining an 11-year-old boy on a porch with a dead chicken around his neck as punishment is scheduled to start Monday.
Dorian Harper and his girlfriend, Wanda Larson, both 58, were arrested after a sheriff’s deputy found the boy in November 2013. Larson was the boy’s guardian and a supervisor for the Department of Social Services in Union County.
They are charged with felony child abuse, false imprisonment and maiming.
Harper and Larson each face several years in prison if they are convicted of all charges. Both have pleaded not guilty. Larson’s trial is scheduled for next month.
Authorities think Harper tied the dead chicken around the boy’s neck as punishment for killing one of the chickens on the 5-acre farm. More than 100 animals, including donkeys, dogs and geese, were later removed from the property.
Harper, who was home at the time, lost his job as an emergency room nurse at Carolinas Medical Center-Union shortly after his arrest.
Larson was fired from her job as protective services supervisor at the Division of Social Services.
Larson was the boy’s legal guardian and had adopted four other children, ages 7 to 14. They were placed under state custody outside Union County.
