Warrants: Salisbury Police say alleged child abuse victim had open wounds, hypothermia, sepsis
Adoptive parents charged in the case
SALISBURY, N.C. (WBTV) - Search warrants obtained by WBTV regarding a child abuse investigation in Salisbury allege that an 11-year-old boy was found to be suffering from several open wounds and other medical conditions.
According to the Salisbury Police Department, officers said the child was brought to the hospital around 12 p.m. on Jan. 21. by his adoptive parents.
“The child showed possible signs of neglect and was transported to Presbyterian Hospital for further treatment,” police said.
After reviewing the medical information and facts obtained during the investigation, arrest warrants were obtained for the adoptive parents, 42-year-old Reed Karriker and 42-year-old Georgianna Karriker, charging each with one count of felony child abuse, according to the Salisbury Police Department.
The two were arrested on Jan. 27.
The probable cause affidavit obtained on Tuesday says that an 11-year-old boy at the home in the 500 block of Maupin Avenue was found “unresponsive, reportedly suffered sepsis, hypothermia, and multiple open wounds throughout various stages of healing.”
The warrant includes photographs of what are described as open wounds on various parts of the child’s body. The child “had an unknown mass in his stomach that required surgery to remove,” according to the warrant.
It was reported in the affidavit that the child “had not been seen by medical professionals since October 2020. Reed Karriker, the warrant says, was denied a request to refill medication for the child in April 2021 by Novant Health Lakeside Primary Care because the child had not been seen by their office.
The warrant also says that “had not been seen again by a medical professional until admitted to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center” on January 21.
Items seized from the Maupin Avenue home included an iPhone, an Apple Mac, and HP laptop, a Kindle, and an iPad.
Reed and Georgianna Karriker are both out of jail on $40,000 bond.
Georgianna Karriker is listed as a school counselor at China Grove Elementary School.
Rowan-Salisbury School System district leaders were made aware of the arrest and Georgianna Karriker has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.