Florida couple accused of torturing children
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:16 am
Allegedly pulled out kids' toenails, beat them with hammers
(CNN) -- A manhunt has been launched in Florida for a couple accused of torturing five of seven children in their home, including pulling out their toenails with pliers and keeping them so malnourished that they "looked like pictures from Auschwitz," authorities said Thursday.
Citrus County Sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney said an arrest warrant was issued for John Dollar, 58, and his wife, Linda, 51 -- each of whom face one count of "aggravated child abuse/torture" for all five children.
The Dollars were the legal guardians of all seven children, although they were not their biological parents, Tierney said. She said the other two children were said to be "favorites" of the Dollars, and were spared their alleged abuse.
The case came to authorities' attention two weeks ago, when a 16-year-old was transported from the family home in Beverly Hills, Florida, to a local hospital. The boy was bleeding from a laceration on his head and there were red marks on his neck. He weighed just 59 pounds, Tierney said.
"That was just the start of the alarming parts of this case," she told CNN in a telephone interview.
Authorities went to the home and interviewed the rest of the children, including two twin 14-year-old boys who were so malnourished they weighed a mere 36 and 38 pounds -- the weight of a typical 4-year-old.
"To look at the photos I saw, it was just extremely unnerving," Tierney said. "They looked like pictures from Auschwitz."
The Dollars are accused of forcing the five children -- who ranged in age from 12 to 16 -- to sleep in a closet in the master bedroom with a "wind chime affixed to the door so that the Dollars would know if they tried to get out of the closet," Tierney said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/family ... index.html
(CNN) -- A manhunt has been launched in Florida for a couple accused of torturing five of seven children in their home, including pulling out their toenails with pliers and keeping them so malnourished that they "looked like pictures from Auschwitz," authorities said Thursday.
Citrus County Sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney said an arrest warrant was issued for John Dollar, 58, and his wife, Linda, 51 -- each of whom face one count of "aggravated child abuse/torture" for all five children.
The Dollars were the legal guardians of all seven children, although they were not their biological parents, Tierney said. She said the other two children were said to be "favorites" of the Dollars, and were spared their alleged abuse.
The case came to authorities' attention two weeks ago, when a 16-year-old was transported from the family home in Beverly Hills, Florida, to a local hospital. The boy was bleeding from a laceration on his head and there were red marks on his neck. He weighed just 59 pounds, Tierney said.
"That was just the start of the alarming parts of this case," she told CNN in a telephone interview.
Authorities went to the home and interviewed the rest of the children, including two twin 14-year-old boys who were so malnourished they weighed a mere 36 and 38 pounds -- the weight of a typical 4-year-old.
"To look at the photos I saw, it was just extremely unnerving," Tierney said. "They looked like pictures from Auschwitz."
The Dollars are accused of forcing the five children -- who ranged in age from 12 to 16 -- to sleep in a closet in the master bedroom with a "wind chime affixed to the door so that the Dollars would know if they tried to get out of the closet," Tierney said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/family ... index.html
I've never worked in a prison setting, but I too am tired of paying for criminals to have health care while so many on the outside don't, they have heat, they have air, 3 meals a day, cable tv. Meanwhile, how many productive citizens do without? Our justice system here in the U.S. is basically a joke any more. I've been very upset lately about a guy who should be going back to prison and isn't, but your post made me realize how much more fun it will be to watch him struggle to make it. He never has been, never will be, a productive member of society.