Rally planned in support of longtime inmate McNeair

The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·1 min read

Sep. 26—LEXINGTON — A rally seeking clemency for longtime inmate Charles Anthony McNeair will take place at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in front of the Davidson County Courthouse at 110 W. Center St., Lexington.

The event is being sponsored by Advocates for Charles McNeair, a nonprofit group of advocates trying to get McNeair released from prison. The protest will be facilitated by the Rev. Alan Suber, president of the organization.

McNeair, 60, has been incarcerated 43 years. In 1979, he was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to a second-degree rape charge. Only 16 at the time, McNeair says he's innocent of the crime but took the plea deal because he was told he could face the death penalty if he didn't.

He's currently incarcerated at the Wilkes Correctional Center in Wilkes County.

A petition for McNeair's clemency was filed with Gov. Roy Cooper's Juvenile Sentence Review Board more than a year ago, but members of the advocacy group have been told only that the case is still pending.