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Worker Arrested For Sexual Assault At Group Home Co-Owned By Greensboro Deputy Police Chief

The Guilford County Sheriff's Office has charged an employee of a group home in Greensboro with sexual assault of a minor at a facility co-owned by Greensboro Deputy Police Chief James Hinson.

Richard Heath was arrested on Tuesday and charged with one count of statutory sex offense and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.

According to the News and Record, the teen alleges the incidents happened at the Center of Progressive Strides, a home for troubled youth that was co-founded by Hinson and former police sergeant Kevin Chandler.

A report prepared by a state agency details the encounter and questions a subsequent delay in the assault being reported to authorities. It also says Hinson tried pressuring the teen to drop the charges.

Hinson and Chandler say the report is biased. They also say the group home is now closed, but not because of these incidents. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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