LEXINGTON -- A Davidson County jury convicted a Lexington man Thursday of indecent exposure, kidnapping and other charges in connection with an incident involving a 16-year-old girl.
John Edward Larson, 38, was convicted of indecent exposure, misdemeanor assault on a female, second-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor sexual battery. Larson was accused of assaulting the girl in the parking lot of the Food Lion store on Cotton Grove Road on Oct. 28, 2007, Assistant District Attorney Greg Brown said.
The girl had pulled into a parking space when Larson blocked her in with his vehicle. He then got out of his car, naked from the waist down, Brown said. Larson reached inside the car to touch the girl, according to Brown.
The girl, who was wearing a seat belt, reacted so violently that she fractured a rib, Brown said.
Judge Michael Beale of Davidson Superior Court sentenced Larson to 29 to 44 months in prison on the kidnapping charge. Beale sentenced Larson to 75 days on the assault on a female charge and consolidated other charges and sentenced Larson to another 75 days in jail. Larson has to register as a sex offender and be put on GPS monitoring for the rest of his life.
Separately, the Davidson County Sheriff's Office arrested a woman on charges that she contacted one of the jurors in the case. Penny Hulin Huff, 34, of 1717 Helmstetler Road, was charged with two counts of felony harassment and communication with a juror. The juror immediately reported the incident and was ultimately removed.
WFU medical school gets grant for research on risky drinking
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has provided a $271,000 grant to Wake Forest University School of Medicine to assist with a research study that is evaluating screening tools for risky drinking patterns.
The grant is being made under the foundation's Substance Abuse Policy Research program. The study will be conducted by Dr. Mary Claire O'Brien, an associate professor of emergency medicine and public-health sciences at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
O'Brien has received international attention this year for research she has done regarding alcohol, including a 2007 study that proved energy drink "cocktails" lead to increased injury risk. Earlier this year, the study was cited by the attorneys general from 25 states, who called on a leading alcohol manufacturer not to introduce a new beverage into the marketplace.
State's coastal-insurance plan insufficient, group warns
RALEIGH -- A national insurance industry group says that North Carolina's coastal property-insurance plan is "financially unprepared" for when the next big hurricane comes.
The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America released a report this week that was performed by an outside actuarial analyst. Nancy Watkins told a legislative committee that the plan would need an additional $2.9 billion to pay for damages caused by a 100-year storm. The amount equates to about $700 for every taxpayer.
WE WERE WRONG
A list of early-voting sites Thursday gave incomplete hours for early voting at the Kernersville Senior Center/Library. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 20-22 and Oct. 27-29; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 23-24 and Oct. 30-31; and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 1.
An updated list of early voting sites is available at www.journalnow.com, keyword: polls.
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