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EXCLUSIVE: First video of Wanda Sue Larson since release in 2015

By Paul Boyd
By Paul Boyd

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — There are new developments in a potentially multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Union County.

Channel 9 learned a mediator has now been selected in the 2013 case filed by the family of a foster child found with a dead chicken around his neck.

Court records show mediator Jon Harkavy was selected by both the plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuit.

Wanda Sue Larson is the woman at the center of the case and a named defendant in the lawsuit. She's a former Union County Department of Social Services supervisor and pleaded guilty to felony child abuse charges while caring for an 11-year-old boy and four other children in her foster home. Her boyfriend at the time, Dorian Lee Harper, also pleaded guilty to child abuse charges.

Channel 9 interviewed that boy in 2016. He showed us the room he was locked in for hours at a time, often chained to a railroad tie. He spoke of horrific abuse and the day he was rescued with that dead chicken tied around his neck while handcuffed to the porch.

[Dead Chicken Abuse Case: Reunited With Rescuers]

While his family's civil lawsuit continues, Wanda Sue Larson has been free on parole for two and a half years.

Channel 9 wanted to talk with her about the lawsuit and found her in Union County sitting on the porch of the mobile home she rents for $550 a month.

Investigative reporter Paul Boyd approached Wanda Sue Larson last Friday.

"I don't need to talk to anybody. Thank you," Larson said while walking into her home.

Channel 9 has learned that Larson introduces herself to strangers as Grace Parker and even has a Facebook page under that name with a picture of her cat as a profile picture.

Larson also has a quote on her cover page that says, "Maybe it's not about the happy ending. Maybe it's about the story."

But Wanda Sue Larson declined the opportunity to share any part of her story that day.

"Get off my property please," Larson said.

With that, she took her Rottweiler inside and closed the door.

Channel 9 then left her property.

State officials said on Monday that Wanda Sue Larson has no parole violations and will remain on post-release supervision until October 2020.

A jury trial for the lawsuit is scheduled for summer 2018 if a settlement is not reached before then.

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