UNION COUNTY, N.C. — UPDATE (Tuesday, Nov. 19): Union County Sheriff's deputies originally told Channel 9 on Friday the boy was a foster child, but on Tuesday officials with the Department of Social Services told Channel 9 the couple had legal guardianship over the boy and he was not part of the foster system.
A Child Protective Services supervisor is being investigated after deputies found an 11-year-old boy handcuffed to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck, according to a press release from the Union County Sheriff's Office.
Wanda Larson is now behind bars and so is her husband, Dorian Harper.
The deputy was answering an animal service complaint at 4116 Austin Road when he came across the shivering child handcuffed by the ankle to the railing.
Moments later, a man appeared on the porch along with another child that released several dogs onto the officer.
The deputy retreated back to his patrol car and the man then removed the handcuffed child from the porch and put the dead chicken on a barrel.
When backup authorities arrived, the officers entered the dwelling and found five children between the ages of 8-14 and removed them from the home.
The couple adopted four of the children and were the foster parents of the 11-year-old child.
Harper and Larson were charged with intentional child abuse, inflicting serious injury, false imprisonment and cruelty to animals.
Larson was also charged with willful failure to discharge her duty as a public officer. Larson is currently employed as a supervisor with Union County Department of Social Services.
They are in jail. Harper is being held under a $500,000 secured bond.
Larson's bond is set at $525,000.
Both will be in court Monday.
WSOC
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