Codger
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:22 PM EST
Couple Once Praised for Parenting Accused of Torture
By MIKE BRANOM, AP
BEVERLY HILLS, Fla. (Feb. 20) - When John and Linda Dollar were seeking to adopt more children a decade ago, social workers regarded them as model parents — well-to-do, well-meaning folks who raised their five children with love. Now the couple stand accused of monstrous acts against five of their eight children, who told investigators they were starved, shocked with a cattle prod, beaten with a hammer and had toenails yanked out with pliers.
AP
Linda and John Dollar adopted eight children a decade ago and child welfare workers regarded them as model parents.
Their emaciated bodies were compared by police to victims of Nazi concentration camps.
"This is probably the worst that I've seen," Citrus County Sheriff's Capt. Jim Cernich said. "Hitting their feet with rubber mallets and canes. Making them sleep in a closet."
John, 57, and Linda Dollar, 51, were arrested in Utah two weeks ago after authorities tracked their cell phone records. They were brought back to Florida to face aggravated child abuse charges.
The couple fled Florida ahead of a hearing with the Department of Children & Families, which put the children, ages 12 to 17, in foster care after the allegations surfaced.
The couple appeared briefly in court Sunday in Lecanto, where a judge denied them bail. Their attorney, Charles Vaughn, said they had been unaware of the charges against them and were returning to Florida when they were arrested.
He said the pair would defend themselves against the allegations and intend to tell their side of the story. "They're taking the case very seriously. They're tired, and they're fighting off a cold," Vaughn said Sunday after meeting with the Dollars after the court appearance.
Authorities discovered the alleged abuse Jan. 21, when the Dollars' 16-year-old son — weighing less than 60 pounds — was taken to the hospital with a head wound and red marks on his neck.
Well-educated and religious, the Dollars seemed to have the best of intentions in a 1995 state application to add to their brood of five adopted children by taking in three more.
"Adoption provided my wife and I the opportunity to extend our love to children we were not fortunate enough to have on our own," John Dollar said in the application. "We both found God sending us children who needed us and we needed them."
The Dollars live in a spacious home about 70 miles north of Tampa, drive a luxury SUV and own an upscale mobile home. He is a commercial real estate appraiser and she is a former businesswoman with a master's degree in education.
Any signs of abuse remained hidden because the couple moved frequently and their children were home-schooled. Neighbors said they never saw the children play outside.
After the 16-year-old was hospitalized this year, investigators found a cattle prod, a pair of pliers and what appear to be toenails in the home, which they say corroborate what the children told detectives.
Couple Once Praised for Parenting Accused of Torture
By MIKE BRANOM, AP
BEVERLY HILLS, Fla. (Feb. 20) - When John and Linda Dollar were seeking to adopt more children a decade ago, social workers regarded them as model parents — well-to-do, well-meaning folks who raised their five children with love. Now the couple stand accused of monstrous acts against five of their eight children, who told investigators they were starved, shocked with a cattle prod, beaten with a hammer and had toenails yanked out with pliers.
AP
Linda and John Dollar adopted eight children a decade ago and child welfare workers regarded them as model parents.
Their emaciated bodies were compared by police to victims of Nazi concentration camps.
"This is probably the worst that I've seen," Citrus County Sheriff's Capt. Jim Cernich said. "Hitting their feet with rubber mallets and canes. Making them sleep in a closet."
John, 57, and Linda Dollar, 51, were arrested in Utah two weeks ago after authorities tracked their cell phone records. They were brought back to Florida to face aggravated child abuse charges.
The couple fled Florida ahead of a hearing with the Department of Children & Families, which put the children, ages 12 to 17, in foster care after the allegations surfaced.
The couple appeared briefly in court Sunday in Lecanto, where a judge denied them bail. Their attorney, Charles Vaughn, said they had been unaware of the charges against them and were returning to Florida when they were arrested.
He said the pair would defend themselves against the allegations and intend to tell their side of the story. "They're taking the case very seriously. They're tired, and they're fighting off a cold," Vaughn said Sunday after meeting with the Dollars after the court appearance.
Authorities discovered the alleged abuse Jan. 21, when the Dollars' 16-year-old son — weighing less than 60 pounds — was taken to the hospital with a head wound and red marks on his neck.
Well-educated and religious, the Dollars seemed to have the best of intentions in a 1995 state application to add to their brood of five adopted children by taking in three more.
"Adoption provided my wife and I the opportunity to extend our love to children we were not fortunate enough to have on our own," John Dollar said in the application. "We both found God sending us children who needed us and we needed them."
The Dollars live in a spacious home about 70 miles north of Tampa, drive a luxury SUV and own an upscale mobile home. He is a commercial real estate appraiser and she is a former businesswoman with a master's degree in education.
Any signs of abuse remained hidden because the couple moved frequently and their children were home-schooled. Neighbors said they never saw the children play outside.
After the 16-year-old was hospitalized this year, investigators found a cattle prod, a pair of pliers and what appear to be toenails in the home, which they say corroborate what the children told detectives.
They are so sick and 
Too bad it was investigated farther before they adopt any more kids. Geez!!!!!!!
:Oops:
:P
Zesty 