I fl ^^^i,,d^liverync ,375, pj KE %0\JK KJ Serving The People Of Madison County Since 1 90 1 Vol- 87 No. 4 Thursday, January 22, 1987 25c Children Testify In Sex Abuse Trial By BILL STUDENC Editor Superior Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr. cleared the courtroom Tuesday as several Madison County children took the witness stand to testify against Andrew "Junior" Chandler, the Marshall man charged with sexually molesting them last year. Beaty ordered all spectators to vacate the courtroom during the children's testimony Tuesday morn ing, leaving only parents, jurors, necessary court personnel, pro secuting and defense attorneys and Chandler to listen as the children testified. Chandler, 29, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts each of first-degree sexual offense, taking indecent liber ties with a minor and crime against nature - a total of 21 charges. He (aces a mandatory Ufe sentence if convicted of first-degree sexual of fense. A former van driver for the Madison County Transportation Authority, Chandler has been charg ed with sexually molesting seven pre school children while taking them to and from the Marshall Day Care Center from January to May 1966. All but one of those children testified Tuesday, said Ellen Scout en, special prosecutor for the state of North Carolina. The children, rang ing in age from 2 to 5 at the time of the alleged molestation, used anatomically correct dolls to aid in their testimony. One child left the courtroom in tears, carried by its parents. When spectators were allowed back into the courtroom, Nancy Burgess, mother of one of the children, testified that her young daughter began using sexually explicit language after riding on the van driven by Chandler. "I was getting concerned about some language that she was coining home using. She come home one day and said, 'We been " Burgess said, spelling the word. "A few weeks later, she started go ing through sexual acts with her ted dy bear. That's when I knew something was wrong," she said. Burgess also testified that she became concerned when the van br inging her daughter home started ar riving later in the afternoon than nor mal - sometimes nearly two hours later. Chandler was driving the van at the time, she said. Beverly Swires, testified that her daughter, then 3, cried and screamed when she was put on the van each morning. Swires said she did not suspect anything was wrong, but only thought her daughter was scared to go to day care. Another mother, Sharon Hensley, testified that her daughter, then 4, also cried when being put on the van in the morning. Upon returning in the afternoon, "sometimes her pants would be unzipped when she got off the bus," Hensley said. All three mothers testified that their children were red and sore around their "private areas." Linda King, of Madison County Department of Social Services, testified that she interviewed each of the seven children after being alerted by parents to possible child sexual abuse on the van. "Junior and the grown-up people took their clothes off and did what grown-up people do," King quoted one child as telling her. Childaen told King that Chandler and Buddy Norton, also known as La them Hens ley, had fondled and kissed them and removed their clothing. Some children said they had been probed sexually by fingers and pens, King said. Norton (Hensley) and Pam Coli, two mentally retarded adults who also rode the van driven by Chandler, will be called by the prosecution to testify. Norton, 28, pleaded guilty in November to seven counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. Coli, 38, pleaded no contest to seven counts of being an accessory after the fact of taking indecent liberties with a minor. Both Norton and Coli received suspended sentences in exchange for their testimony against Chandler. -Continued on back page Judge James Beaty . . clears courtroom Weaverville To Oppose New Prison By ANNE KITCHELL Staff Writer A representative from Goldview Drive spoke to the Weavervilje Town Council Monday night to protest the proposed relocation of Craggy Prison in the Weaverville area. Lucia Ward went before |he council during the regular meeting saying that the state is considering purchasing a portion of a 150-acre tract of land off Goldview Drive for a new medium-security prison. Sam Reed, an official from Craggy Correctional Institution, said the current facility in Woodfin was built in 1924 and is getting too old. A new facility is scheduled to be built by 1987. Reed did not say whether Weaverville was a considered site. Ward said that if the prison is relocated to the Weaverville area, property values would fall, blighting not only Goldview Drive, but all of Weaverville Town officials agreed to adopt a resolution opposing Weaverville as the relocation site. In other action. Alderman David Lankford requested that Town Manager Charles Home keep the board informed about town in cidences such as town vehicle wrecks and personnel firings. Several council members were unaware that police officer Mike Shelton had been dismissed last week. Home refused comment about the dismissal stating, "It is a per sonnel matter and (is) confiden tial." In other action, Mayor Reese Lasher recommended that the board adopt a resolution to en courage the implementation of a 911 emergency number. Buncombe County' has not ap proved the emergency number, but Lasher said feels the North Buncombe area would benefit from its installation. The council tabled a motion to spend more than $15,000 on new fire hydrants for the Williams Street sewer line. The contraction company for North Buncombe High School, Wheeler Construction, estimated the cost per hydrant at $1,780. The Weaverville Optimist Club were granted a lease agreement for the use of the clubhouse at the community recreation center. Op timists will be responsible f?r facility maintenance and will be eligible for a three-year lease renewal. The next town council meeting will be held Feb. 16 with two public hearings scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The hearings will give Weaver ville residents a chance to discuss a proposal for the Reagan proper ty recreational area at 6:30, and use of a land water conservation grant at 6:45 p.m. Attorney General Agrees To Investigate Police Chief's Wreck By ANNE UTCHELL Staff Writer Hie N.C. Attorney General's Office has reviewed and accepted a request from District Attorney J. Thomas Rusher fsr a special investigation of a New Year's Ere accident involving Hot Springs Police Chief John Bar rett. "It is our feeling that this is a legitimate request and it would heap propriate to take it op," John Sim mom, deputy attorney, said Monday A State Bureau of Investigation be better for someone not connected to Madiaon County politics to do the investigation. Barrett has said allegations against Mm are politically motivated. When contacted this week, Barrett said he feels confident the investiga tion will not turn up anything aise. "The majority of the taxpayers and the board are behind aw 100 percent," Barrett said. "There are a few that haven't been behind me since I started back." Barrett continued to contend ha had Financial Records Show Caldwell Paid Himself $5,400 In Vacation Pay| By BILL STUDENC Editor Former Madison County finance of ficer David Caldwell wrote himself a check for $5,403 in vacation, sick and holiday pay, according to financial documents in Madison County Cour thouse. . Caldwell was eligible for, at best, half of that amount, according to county policy and the county's at torney. Caldwell wrote himself the check - including payment for vacation, sick and holiday time - on Nov. 17, two weeks before he was fired by a new slate of county commissioners, j ^.Tbe general fund ledger indicate that Ledford Enterprises received no payments from March through July 30, 1966. It appears, however, that Ledford-owned service stations resumed servicing the county vehicles in late July 1806 Ledford Enterprises was directly paid 94,9M.M for fuel and repairs by Madison County from January through December 1906, mainly in the months between July and November. Although the total is $5.08 below the legal limit, payments made by the time as you're eligible for, but all you can carry over on Jan. 1 is 240 hours," he said. "It doesn't say that you won't get paid for it. It's very damn plain on the timesheet." If an employee does not take vaca tion time or is not paid for his ac cumulated time by Jan. 1, all time over 240 hours will be lost, Caldwell said. According to a timesheet provided by the county finance office, vacation time . . shall be cumulative up to 240 hours." County attorney Larry Leake said the county's vacation time policy is patterned after state policy, which ' -CttntHnJed on Mack page James Ledford . . .former commissioner county directly to Phillips 66 Co. for services at Ledford -owned stations push the total over the IS, 000 limit. -ConUmed on back page Zeno Ponder Says GOP Behind Latest Conspiracy Indictment By ANNE KITCHELL Staff Writer Zeno H. Ponder, longtime Madison County Democratic strongman, blames the Republican Party for the resurfacing of conspiracy charges against him in connection to a 1982 land purchase. "Leadership in the Republican Party from Jeaae Helms on down is behind this. Republicans will walk over anybody to further their caiae," Ponder said earlier this week. "Bitter Republicans feel about me the way Christians feel about the devil," be said. "They want to get me out of the i 1_ P*nd Jury in m 4 'Bitter Republicans feel about me the way Christians feel abeot the devil. They wast U get me ant of the way . ' Zeao Ponder ?i right of w*y to the river," Ftadar Mid. "We were determined to get a tat and west acroaa County." A number of acfcooi?UMr? from irea are currently riding i Sff tJKrtft r Creek to I