North Carolina Couple Charged With Chaining 11-Year-Old Boy With Dead Chicken Around His Neck

There is a bizarre case in North Carolina where Dorian Harper, 58, and Wanda Larson, 58, were arrested after police found an 11-year-old boy chained to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck as punishment for killing a chicken on the farm. What is interesting is that the couple turned down a plea agreement to felony child abuse, false imprisonment and maiming. It is not clear where the maiming charge comes from in the case, but a trial will expose both to years in jail.

The boy was found in November 2013 and Larson was the boy’s guardian as well as a supervisor for the Department of Social Services in North Carolina’s Union County. Larson and the boy reportedly may testify against Harper, who lost his job as an emergency room nurse at Carolinas Medical Center-Union. Larson was also fired from her job as protective services supervisor at the Division of Social Services.

I am unclear on the possible defenses in the case. If Larson is going to testify against Harper, she may be arguing that this was his doing. However, what would his defense be? Chaining a boy with a dead animal would hardly fall within the view of acceptable disciplinary action even at the extremes.