Nick Ochsner
Chief Investigative Reporter
Charlotte, NC
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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Earnest Winston sat down with WBTV in an exclusive interview to address reports of rape and sexual assault at Myers Park High School. It's the first time Winston has spoken on the subject since WBTV's first investigation aired in early June.
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Some members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education spoke out for the first time Tuesday night about reported rapes and sexual assaults at Myers Park High School. It's the first response from any CMS leader since WBTV's investigation into reported rape and sexual assaults at the school.
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The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education did not renew the contract of Myers Park High School principal Mark Bosco Tuesday night. His contract expired on June 30.
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A provision tucked into a COVID-19 relief bill passed last year is giving nursing homes blanket immunity in court, barring claims for any wrongdoing to residents whether its related to COVID-19.
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The general counsel for the CMS Board of Education sent an apology to the school board hours after posting and deleting a statement in response to a WBTV investigation into the handling of reports by female students that they were raped and sexually assaulted on campus.
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The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is investigating a former lieutenant with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office in connection with a drive-by shooting that happened in May, an agency spokeswoman confirmed to WBTV.
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The boy rescued from the Union County foster home of Wanda Sue Larson and Dorian Harper is revealing his identity for the first time now that he is an adult. Juan Garcia says he would still like to see Wanda Sue Larson and Dorian Harper prosecuted for the sexual abuse he endured.
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The State of North Carolina has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of the boy who was found chained to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck in 2013 at the home of Wanda Sue Larson and Dorian Harper.
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Two more former Myers Park High School students have come forward to detail their experiences after reporting to school administrators that they were raped and sexually assaulted.
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McCrae Dowless, the political operative at the center of the 9th Congressional District scandal in 2018, pleaded guilty to two charges related to unemployment fraud in federal court on Monday.
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The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education responded to a WBTV investigation last week and then deleted its statement roughly an hour later. The district has not issued any new statement and will not respond to renewed request for an on-camera interview
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A top regulator at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services defended the agency’s sporadic inspection of a camp that advertises itself as offering wilderness therapy in western North Carolina after a WBTV investigation.
Former female students at Myers Park High School reported being raped, sexually assaulted and sexually harassed by fellow students at school but virtually nothing was done to address the reports, according to former students’ lawsuits and interviews. CMS leaders won't answer questions.
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Letters and other documents declaring some police officers across North Carolina as too untrustworthy to testify in court remain largely hidden from public view, as lawyers at the state's court system press local prosecutors to keep the information secret.
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The VA told a veteran he could get an x-ray at a private urgent care facility at their expense. Instead of paying for the bill, the veteran was sent to collections. The incident turned into the "hurt finger from hell."
Trails Carolina, a wilderness therapy camp in the mountains of North Carolina, advertises itself as a place to help children. But interviews with former participants, staff and parents who have sent their children to the camp suggest it may do the opposite.
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15-year-old JK Patterson was walking down the street in his own neighborhood early one evening when he was shot. When police arrived, they told him-incorrectly-he'd been hit by a BB gun and made him stand up.
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Leaders in the North Carolina Senate are warming up to the idea of revisiting the state law that makes police video secret. The conversations come in the wake of a deadly police shooting in Elizabeth City last week.
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It took nearly a year for the State of North Carolina to pay Alex Sanders death benefits after her husband was killed in the line of duty.
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As communities across the nation continue to grapple with high-profile police killings, North Carolina officials have again refused to release information on the deaths of people who died in custody, citing guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Lawmakers, including House Speaker Tim Moore, pushed legislation to change the tax rules related to PPP loans without disclosing that their businesses accepted PPP loans.
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More than a year into the pandemic, the N.C. office that handles unemployment claims is still not responsive to people trying to sort out their unemployment benefits. In fact, the office is so hard to reach, even a top lawmaker couldn't get through to resolve problems for his constituents.
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Public records obtained by WBTV are raising questions about how a small nonprofit spent $3.5 million in federal CARES Act money. An expert calls it 'highly unusual'.
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The North Carolina office in charge of administering a program designed to help people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic catch up on rent and utility bills is changing how it handles cases, as more than $60 million meant to help people sits unspent.
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An employee at Kids R Kids of Huntersville was arrested last June after video showed a three-year-old being assaulted. The boy's parents say the incident should be a warning to other parents that abuse can happen no matter how highly-rated the facility is.
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The N.C. Department of Justice has stonewalled efforts to review decades of files where the state crime lab used bad science to send innocent men to prison. That changed after questions from WBTV.
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A backlog of child support cases at the Mecklenburg County courthouse has left hundreds of families in limbo. The courthouse claims it has nothing to do with the backlog, but the child support enforcement office says it can only schedule appointments allowed by the courts.
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Two crime reduction units within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are stopping, searching and arresting Black people at a disproportionate rate. Data shows 92% of people arrested by the two units in a 12-month period were Black.
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The N.C. HOPE Grant program has only spent $42 million of $160 million set aside to help people pay their rent and utility bills. State officials have approved a total of $120 million in grant awards but cannot explain why it's taking so long to get checks cut.
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This stems from an incident on Dec. 19 2019 when Atrium security guards tackled 16-year-old Hayden Long to the ground, tazed him and sat on him.
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A commander with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol wants his troopers to write more speeding tickets.
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The North Carolina State Highway Patrol has placed troopers on standby in preparation for possible unrest at the state capitol, sources tell WBTV.
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Atrium Health is scheduling non-critical employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, despite state regulations aimed at ensuring those who interact with COVID-19 patients and the elderly are inoculated first.
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A North Carolina accounting firm has come under fire from the state board that licenses certified public accountants for its practice of providing financial consulting and auditing services to the same clients.
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Governor Roy Cooper issued a pardon of innocence to five men on Thursday, each of whom had been convicted of crimes they did not commit.
As the first doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine arrives in North Carolina, the hospitals charged with administering the vaccine have provided few specific details about how the first doses will be distributed.
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The North Carolina prison system is pushing process an influx of new inmates into state prisons from county jails by year end, according to documents obtained by WBTV.
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New video obtained by WBTV shows deputies working at the Lincoln County courthouse restraining and trying to handcuff a 19-year-old who was having an apparent seizure. The teen suffered a broken wrist, in addition to being treated for altered mental state and a seizure.
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A judge ordered an outside expert, known as a special master, to oversee the North Carolina prison system’s response to COVID-19. He also ordered regular, ongoing testing for prison staff.
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Three state prisons have been closed, with hundreds of inmates being transferred to other facilities across the state, as COVID-19 continues to spike within the prison system.
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Emails obtained by WBTV show top regulators at N.C. Department of Health and Human Services helped Cardinal Innovations respond to concerns from Mecklenburg County and sent Cardinal an advanced copy of a response letter to the county, to which Cardinal suggested edits.
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North Carolina handed out millions of dollars in job retention grants to country clubs, special interest groups and one airline that also received $171 million in federal funding.
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Thousands of North Carolinians have been forced from their homes this year, despite a pair of orders from the Governor banning evictions Leegraciea Lewis, who was forced from her apartment and is now living in an extended stay hotel, is one of them.
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An ongoing lawsuit stemming from the disappearance and death of a Cleveland County woman in 2008 is highlighting the regulatory failures of N.C. DHHS to keep seniors and those with cognitive disabilities safe.
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The North Carolina State Board of Elections said Friday it was reviewing video taken inside the Anson County Board of Elections building showing people voting.The video, which was first published by WBTV on Thursday.
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Video obtained by WBTV shows the husband of a candidate for local office in Anson County repeatedly escorting voters into cast their ballot. The video surfaced after county elections officials denied any existed for more than two weeks and after some video was deleted.
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The N.C. Medical Board refused to review the file of a man whose brother says was hooked on opioids after years of being prescribed them without the proper supervision from his doctor.
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The North Carolina State Board of Elections is investigating more than a dozen complaints filed in Anson County, challenging practices by supporters of one campaign to offer voters assistance as they walk into the early voting poll.
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N.C. Mayors group says it isn’t coordinating new nondiscrimination ordinance. Emails show otherwise.
The North Carolina Metro Mayors Coalition has denied that it worked to plan the introduction of new nondiscrimination ordinances in cities across the state, following a WBTV story on Monday. Emails show otherwise.
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Republican operatives called voters with incorrect information about their voter registration, investigators with the N.C. State Board of Elections believe, using a dark money group formed in Texas.