Murphy – A former Cherokee County Department of Social Services supervisor pled guilty Monday to his role in using custody visitation agreements, which allowed minors to be taken from their parents without court involvement.
David Alan Hughes, 60, pled guilty to one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of willfully failing to discharge duties, both misdemeanors. He faces a maximum of eight months in prison; however, his sentence has been continued until the state prays judgment, meaning Hughes may not serve any time behind bars if he cooperates with prosecutors.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed 10 counts of felony obstruction of justice. In addition, Hughes must “testify honestly and truthfully in any proceeding,” according to plea documents obtained by the Cherokee Scout.
The former director of Cherokee County DSS, Cindy Palmer, and former DSS attorney Scott Lindsay are each charged criminally in connection with the use of custody visitation agreements, known as CVAs. Meanwhile, four additional civil suits regarding the use of CVAs have yet to go to trial. Hughes most likely will be on the witness list in those cases.
At the plea hearing Monday, Benjamin Zellinger, a special prosecutor with the State of North Carolina, said CVAs have “no legal basis” and accused Hughes and others of subverting the law. He said the investigation determined that DSS employees had used CVAs on numerous occasions over the course of 10 years, partly because the agency was “greatly understaffed.”
In one of the cases, a local mother signed custody of her son over to her father-in-law, who later was busted for selling heroin, Zellinger said. Legal custody then became an issue because the mother objected to the home where DSS chose to move the child because of reports of anger and abuse in that household.
Hughes, who was represented by defense attorneys Rich Cassady and Holly Christy, resigned from his position with DSS in spring 2018.