CHARLOTTE (AP) — State officials say they plan to examine how Union County handles child-welfare cases after a boy was found by a sheriff’s deputy handcuffed to a porch with a dead chicken tied to his neck.
The Charlotte Observer reports Wayne Black, director of the Division of Social Services in the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the agency will review how county employees handle adoptions, foster care and child protection.
Black said the agency also will also study records of all children placed under the care of Wanda Larson and Dorian Harper of Monroe. Both are charged with intentional child abuse, false imprisonment and cruelty to animals. Larson is also charged with failing to discharge her duty as a public official. She is a child-protection investigations supervisor with Union County DSS.
Union County officials have asked an unidentified county to look closely at the incident with the boy, County Manager Cindy Coto said. The goal, she said, is “to ensure the quality of our procedures are the highest possible.”
When asked if there were warning signs at the Larson-Harper home that the county may have missed, officials declined comment, citing the investigation.
Search warrants and related documents in the Union County case have been sealed at the request of the District Attorney’s office. In court documents, the office said the warrants and affidavits identified the minors and included “details about alleged acts involving” them.