By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A Rowan County couple who authorities said housed their children in squalid conditions and didn’t feed their pets will not serve jail time on child abuse charges.
David Lore Jr., 38, and Angela Lore, 36, of 3435 Rockwell Road, were each charged in March with four counts of child abuse, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and three counts of animal cruelty.
The couple each received a total of three years probation after spending much of Monday in Rowan County District Court with their attorneys.
In March, investigators said they found the family living in filthy conditions that included piles of trash inside and outside the home.
In probable cause court Monday, Angela Lore was found guilty of misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor, with the charges consolidated for sentencing, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Angela Lore was found not guilty on four counts of misdemeanor child abuse and three counts of cruelty to animals.
The court dismissed three counts of simple possession of a schedule IV controlled substance, one count of manufacture/sell/deliver salvia and one count of simple possession of a schedule III controlled substance.
Angela Lore received 45 days in the N.C. Department of Correction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which was suspended to 18 months of supervised probation.
Judge William Kluttz ordered Angela Lore to complete a substance abuse assessment, abide by all the orders of the abuse/neglect case and all safety orders by the Rowan County Department of Social Services.
She was also given eight days special probation credit in lieu of costs or fines. She will be on intensive probation for six months and does not have to perform community service.
Angela Lore also received 45 days in the N.C. Department of Correction for possessing drug paraphernalia, which was suspended to 18 months of supervised probation at the expiration of the first sentence.
She was given credit for eight days in the Rowan County jail.
David Lore was found guilty of four counts of misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor, with the charges consolidated for sentencing, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was found not guilty of four counts of misdemeanor child abuse and three counts of cruelty to animals.
The court found no probable cause for a charge of felony assault by strangulation against David Lore, but found cause on another felony assault by strangulation. That case will be heard in Rowan Superior Court.
An arrest warrant said Lore grabbed his son, David Edward Lore III, around the neck, cutting off his airway, in 2009.
The court dismissed one count of misdemeanor simple possession of a schedule III controlled substance, three counts misdemeanor simple possession of a schedule IV controlled substance and one count of manufacture/sell/deliver salvia.
David Lore received 120 days in the N.C. Department of Correction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which was suspended to 18 months of supervised probation.
David Lore also received 120 days in the N.C. Department of Correction for possessing drug paraphernalia, which was suspended to 18 months of supervised probation at the expiration of the first sentence.
He was given credit for eight days in the Rowan County jail.
In August, a district court judge modified the couple’s condition of release and allowed them visits with their two youngest children.
Conditions to those visits included that they must be at the Department of Social Services offices, must be scheduled by a case worker and must be supervised.
Authorities told the Post the couple still have modified visits with their two youngest children.
During their search of the home in March, investigators also found prescription pills and other drug paraphernalia. The couple were charged in May with possessing several kinds of prescription pills, including Klonopin, hydrocodeine and Xanax.
Investigators also found a smoking pipe and scales and a small amount of salvia, a psychedelic herb that’s illegal in North Carolina but legal in some other states.
The couple own Pet Place, a pet store on South Main Street. The business survived the fire that destroyed the Webb Road Flea Market last year.
Angela Lore declined to comment before speaking with her attorney.
Her attorney, Pete Hoffman, had no comment.
“I think the whole matter was blown out of proportion,” said Carlyle Sherrill, David Lore’s attorney.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.