NC to pay $1M to boy found handcuffed to porch with chicken around neck, attorney says

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — North Carolina has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of a boy who was found handcuffed to a Union County porch with a dead chicken around his neck in 2013, according to the boy’s attorney.

A deputy was answering an animal service complaint at a home Austin Road in November 2013 when he said he came across a shivering 11-year-old boy handcuffed by the ankle to the porch railing.

Moments later, officials said a man appeared on the porch along with another child that released several dogs onto the deputy. 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.

The child’s foster parents at the time were former Union County Department of Social Services supervisor Wanda Sue Larson and her boyfriend, Dorian Harper. There were also four other children living in the home.

Channel 9 has confirmed that earlier this month, the victim signed a $1 million settlement agreement with the state to resolve a lawsuit claiming that Union County and Gaston County’s Department of Social Services missed multiple opportunities to protect him and the other children in the home from neglect and abuse.

According to the victim’s attorney, Jay Trehy, the settlement released both county’s DSS agencies as well as the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services from any further liability in the case. The money will be paid into a special fund, which will make ongoing payments to the victim.

Harper admitted to cutting the boy’s face with a knife, burning him with an electrical wire and handcuffing the boy to the porch with a dead chicken around his neck. He was sentenced to 6-10 years in prison.

Larson admitted to turning a blind eye to the abuse. She accepted a plea deal of 6-17 months, but was released in April 2015 because of time she had already served since her arrest in 2013.

(WATCH: Foster child found handcuffed to porch with dead chicken around neck)

Foster child found handcuffed to porch with dead chicken around neck Foster child found handcuffed to porch with dead chicken around neck

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