Court records: Former Asheville-area health care director indicted in child rape case

ASHEVILLE — After a grand jury indicted a former MAHEC director accused of child rape to Buncombe County Superior Court Jan. 9, a new motion filed by the defense attorney provides more detail into the case.

Shane Lunsford, 43, of Black Mountain, was arrested and charged with two counts of rape of a child by an adult and five counts of statutory sex offense with a child on Nov. 8, 2021. His defense attorney, Sean Devereux, previously said he is asking the Buncombe County District Attorney’s office to “consider additional evidence that we have” before going to a grand jury. A motion filed Oct. 2 may provide insight into that evidence.

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office began a sexual abuse investigation on Oct. 13, 2022, after an 11-year-old disclosed Lunsford had sexually assaulted them, according to search warrants obtained by the Citizen Times. The next day, another 11-year-old victim reported similar abuse.

One of the alleged victims was a foster child in Lunsford’s home at the time, according to court documents. The child was taken out of their biological parent’s home in 2019 following suspicions of physical abuse, the motion states.

Initial reporting: Former foster care nonprofit official, MAHEC director charged with child rape

The child was then placed in three different foster homes, later telling Lunsford that they were sexually abused in one or more of these homes. Lunsford then reported the allegations to the North Carolina Children’s Hope Alliance, a Joint Commission-accredited nonprofit affiliated with United Way that provides foster care and other child services in North Carolina, according to the motion.

The alleged victim was first placed in Lunsford’s home temporarily in May 2020, but after two other family placements were unsuccessful, they returned to the home in September 2020. The motion discloses some of the foster child’s behavior while in the home, as well as statements made by the child’s assigned foster care social worker with Burke County DSS, Chelsea Powell, in a November 2020 email to her supervisors.

Previous reporting: Former MAHEC psychiatry director accused of child rape appears in Buncombe district court

In June 2021, Lunsford said in an email to Arista Clifton at Children’s Hope Alliance, according to the motion: “I just wanted to let you know that (the child) became upset today when we were talking about issues surrounding (their) phone. During the conversation (they) threatened to tell people I raped (them) if I take away (their) phone.”

At the time, the Lunsford home was accredited as a Foster Home by the Teaching-Family Association, according to court records. Lunsford has fostered roughly 30 children and served as board president of the Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina until 2019 and on the board until 2020, the Citizen Times previously reported.

A psychiatric diagnostic evaluation was performed on the foster child in July 2021 and the doctor is quoted saying based on the evaluation, “it is strongly recommended that (the child) remain in (their) current foster home placement with Level 2, therapeutic foster home supports.”

Lunsford lived in the home with his wife of 19 years, Erin Lunsford, who was a nurse practitioner.

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Three months later, the child was overheard by a classmate telling another student that Lunsford had sexually assaulted (them), the motion says. The student reported what they heard to a school staff person. The school contacted Buncombe County Department of Social Services, according to court records.

A Buncombe County DSS worker then interviewed the alleged victim and spoke with Det. Tim Teves of the Black Mountain Police Department, who wrote in case notes that the child told the DSS worker that Lunsford had been sexual with (them) and another child, court records say.

The two alleged victims underwent multiple CME forensic interviews and interviews with members of the Child Safety Team at Mission Children’s Specialists.

The first child told interviewers that Lunsford made them “really uncomfortable” by placing his hands insider their pants and that he had placed a body part in them “more than one time,” the motion says. The second child also stated to interviewers that Lunsford had made inappropriate sexual advantages.

Following the accusations, DSS initiated an investigation into Lunsford’s home and “substantiated” abuse in the home, a determination that the Lunsfords appealed, according to the motion. During the investigation, Lunsford voluntarily moved out of the home, according to the court document.

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While Teves and the DSS worker were at Lunsford's home for an inspection on Oct. 13, 2021, the victim's therapist arrived at the home, according to a search warrant obtained by the Citizen Times.

During an interview, the therapist allegedly described one of the victims as having a history of threatening people.

Detectives also executed a search warrant on Lunsford’s home on Oct. 22, 2021, collecting two USB flash drives and an external hard drive that were “believed to contain some or all of the evidence,” the warrants stated.

Lunsford’s defense counsel states they sent a letter to the District Attorney, claiming “superficiality” in the investigation into the accusations and suggesting different sources of background. The defense claims the letter was “largely ignored,” according to the motion.

Lunsford is the former director of psychiatry at the Mountain Area Health Education Center, where he worked from March 2019 to December 2021, MAHEC Communications Manager Kathi Petersen previously said. He was placed on administrative leave from MAHEC on Oct. 15, 2021.

He was released from jail in 2021, after posting a $25,000 bond. Per the conditions of Lunsford’s release, he is to have no contact with the victims and is not to return to Fearless Athletics, a children’s gymnastics gym in Arden where Lunsford was a volunteer and where his biological and foster children have participated in programs.

Lunsford's release from jail: Former foster care nonprofit official, MAHEC director charged with child rape makes bond

The Citizen Times reached out to Devereux for comment but did not receive a response before press time. District Attorney Todd Williams told the Citizen Times that he is "ethically obligated to refrain from public comment outside of court about pending cases."

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Former Asheville MAHEC director indicted in alleged rape case