The Kinston Department of Public Safety has nabbed one of its most wanted.
“We have been looking for him for a while,” Kinston Department of Public Safety spokesman Woody Spencer said of Michael Ray Pigford.
In September, The Free Press reported Pigford was one of the top suspects wanted by the KDPS.
He was arrested Nov. 25 for felony intentional child abuse inflicting serious injury following a traffic stop conducted by the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office in the 300 block of Washington Street in La Grange.
“Allegedly, Pigford beat a juvenile about the face and body,” Spencer said.
The child was taken to Lenoir Memorial Hospital following the incident Aug. 9, which allegedly took place at Pigford’s residence in the 2200 block of Old Snow Hill Road.
The victim had bruises to the right side of his body.
According to the state law applied in the case, Pigford’s accused of committing an assault on a child younger than 16 resulting in serious bodily injury or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of mental or emotional functions while being in a position of supervision of the child.
It’s classified as a Class C felony. Class C offenses are the next step down from second-degree murder. This particular crime became a Class C felony in 1999.
Pigford previously served time in state prison from a 2004 conviction on the same charge, and served prison time June 2011-April 2013 for felony obtaining property under false pretense and felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance.
He was placed into the Lenoir County Detention Center under a $40,000 secured bond.
Pigford’s due in Lenoir County District Court on Dec. 10.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @WolfeReports.