GUILTY FL - John & Linda Dollar for torture of 5 adopted kids, Beverly Hills, 2005

  • #81
I think the Dollars,need to be chained and have each one of those kids rip a toenail and fingernail out of them and ...

I think that's about the worse possible thing that could be wished on those kids. Encouraging anyone to do things ascribed as identical to the "sicko" action of "sickos" is as close to the original sick acts as possible.

IMO, of course.
 
  • #82
LovelyPigeon said:
I think that's about the worse possible thing that could be wished on those kids. Encouraging anyone to do things ascribed as identical to the "sicko" action of "sickos" is as close to the original sick acts as possible.

IMO, of course.

Do you arbitrarily see the perps as victims or are you so within the fact that nothing bad really happens that you can't see the human suffering? I wish I could understand you...I really, really do.
 
  • #83
I think we all just love our own kids so much that it is impossible to comprehend these type of people. Anger sits closely beside vengeance! I, too, had a hard time with "A Child Called It". In fact, it took me quite a while to finish the book. I could only read a bit at a time as it made me physically sick. David spoke at my daughter's Middle School a couple of years ago. He is SO good with that age group. If you ever get the chance to hear him, don't pass it up!
 
  • #84
I think that encouraging actions identical to actions being called despicable is horrible.

We consider pulling out toenails a horrible, cruel, painful act. Wishing the victims of that act to engage in the same horrible, cruel, painful act toward someone, even their tormentors, is equally horrible IMO. I cringe everytime I read such terrible comments.

America is known for a system of legal justice, not for revenge as cruel as the original cruel acts. We want to encourage justice for all without stooping as low as those deserving that justice.
 
  • #85
Well then not the kids because they have been through enough,but those dollar animals need to know the pain they caused,letting them sit and rot in prison which they probably won't be in for long,because it's Florida,they won't learn anything from what they did and will probably get out and turn around and kill the next time.And there will be a next time,people like that live to torture people and some other poor child will suffer for it.I just get so pissed off when I see crimes against kids,that I wish for the people to feel the pain that the kids felt.A eye for a eye type theory.And our justice system blows,if it worked Jessica Lunsford and Sarah Lunde would still be alive.
 
  • #86
John and Linda Dollar, the couple accused of torturing and starving some of their children, agreed to terminate their parental rights Friday.

Separately, a judge on Monday agreed that the Dollars would stand trial together on the felony charges of child abuse.

John Dollar, 59, and his 52-year-old wife, Linda, are scheduled to stand trial Oct. 31. Each faces five counts of aggravated child abuse.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/06/Citrus/Dollars_surrender_chi.shtml

Blood stains, fingernails and residue on pliers found in the house and motor home of John and Linda Dollar match the DNA of at least three of their adopted children, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report says.
There may be a link to a fourth child because two of youngsters are twins and share the same genetic fingerprint.

Samples taken from a cattle prod, mallet and cane also seized with search warrants did not yield conclusive matches, the report said.

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBD9NMVM9E.html
 
  • #87
LovelyPigeon said:
I think that's about the worse possible thing that could be wished on those kids. Encouraging anyone to do things ascribed as identical to the "sicko" action of "sickos" is as close to the original sick acts as possible.

IMO, of course.
I think if we punished a few of these sickos with the same torture they inflict on their victims SOME possible future perps would think twice.:furious:
 
  • #88
I think torture is a morally unacceptable response to torture. Vigilante justice is also unacceptable. The 8th Amendment to our Constitution establishes the prevention of cruel and unusual punishment in our legal system.

Endorsing the same horrible behavior that you want to condemn is counterintelligent and counterproductive.

Set the example rather than copy the behavior.
 
  • #89
LovelyPigeon said:
I think that encouraging actions identical to actions being called despicable is horrible.

We consider pulling out toenails a horrible, cruel, painful act. Wishing the victims of that act to engage in the same horrible, cruel, painful act toward someone, even their tormentors, is equally horrible IMO. I cringe everytime I read such terrible comments.

America is known for a system of legal justice, not for revenge as cruel as the original cruel acts. We want to encourage justice for all without stooping as low as those deserving that justice.

Maybe so, but since we read the same types of stories all the time of these twisted, cruel, horrible acts being done to others, obviously our system isn't working, especially when you consider many are repeat offenders.

I am all for an eye for an eye......JMO of course :D
 
  • #90
LovelyPigeon said:
I think torture is a morally unacceptable response to torture. Vigilante justice is also unacceptable. The 8th Amendment to our Constitution establishes the prevention of cruel and unusual punishment in our legal system.

Endorsing the same horrible behavior that you want to condemn is counterintelligent and counterproductive.

Set the example rather than copy the behavior.
I am just so tired of being told we need to have compassion for criminals and they are human beings too. IMO when you do something like this or worse to another human being or even an animal you have forfeited ALL of your rights as a humand being and that includes mercy. Also I do not see it as torture when it is imposed as a punishment for them having already done this to someone else, I see it as justice.

And as for it being counterproductive, I think that if some of these scum bags thought for one moment, hey if I get caught think about what could happen to me, they just might reconsider ever doing something like this in the first place. If they know they are going someplace where they will get 3 meals a day, a place to sleep and cable tv, what kind of deterient is that to someone who is demented?
 
  • #91
Dollar Children's DNA Matches Blood On Pliers

By JIM TUNSTALL [email protected]
Published: Jun 6, 2005

INVERNESS - Blood stains, fingernails and residue on pliers found in the house and motor home of John and Linda Dollar match the DNA of at least three of their adopted children, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report says.
There may be a link to a fourth child because two of youngsters are twins and share the same genetic fingerprint.

Samples taken from a cattle prod, mallet and cane also seized with search warrants did not yield conclusive matches, the report said.
--->> http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBD9NMVM9E.html
 
  • #92
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/09/Citrus/Testimony__Dollar_chi.shtml

Testimony: Dollar children lived like war prisoners
A psychologist compared five of John and Linda Dollar's children to American GIs who were tortured while captives during the Korean War.
By ABBIE VAN SICKLE
Published September 9, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


INVERNESS - John and Linda Dollar brainwashed their children, leading the kids to believe they deserved to be tortured for stealing food and sneaking out of the closet where they slept, said Thomas Dikel, a psychologist who examined the children.

During an Aug. 29 closed hearing where a judge ruled the children could testify by videotape at the trial, Dikel compared the children's experience to that of prisoners of war.

"Although it sounds awfully melodramatic, I would maintain that it is very close to what happened to the American GIs during the Korean War in prisoner-of-war camps, both in terms of starvation, isolation, torture, being forced to watch their friends being tortured, also the psychological torture," he said.

Dikel's testimony was made available this week in John and Linda Dollar's court files. The Dollars are accused of torturing five of their eight adopted children. Prosecutors say the couple starved the children, shocked them with a cattle prod and pulled out their toenails with pliers.

The couple have pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated child abuse. They are being held at the Citrus County jail awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 31.

..............

When Vaughn asked Dikel whether the children could have made up the whole story about being tortured, Dikel said he had seen the physical evidence in the case and couldn't imagine the allegations were false.

There's a lot of evidence to support their claims of torture, including severe malnourishment and starvation, he said.

The children's lack of growth and their failure to go through puberty matches up with these accusations, Dikel said.

He said he has seen pieces of toenails entered into evidence
......
 
  • #93
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/29/Citrus/Hearing_looks_at_how_.shtml

Wall said the children told her they were kept in a walk-in closet most of the time and were allowed out only for bathroom breaks. Wall also said the children told her of beatings, food deprivation, electric shocks, and of having their fingernails and toenails pulled out.

The Dollars' attorney, Charles Vaughn, gave an indication of the strategy he plans to use at trial: label the children as liars.

During cross-examination, Vaughn asked Wall whether the children told her that they were "liars and cheats."

The detective answered that the children did say that to her.
 
  • #94
Fla. couple pleads guilty to torturing children

INVERNESS, Fla. - A couple pleaded guilty Wednesday to torturing and starving five of their seven adopted children, including yanking out their toenails with pliers, and were sentenced to 15 years each in prison.

John and Linda Dollar's plea to five counts of aggravated child abuse avoids a scheduled Oct. 31 trial and saves the children from an on-camera deposition documenting their misery.

The five abused children were so severely underfed that twin 14-year-old brothers weighed just 36 and 38 pounds each - about 80 pounds below normal. Police compared their conditions to victims of Nazi concentration camps.

The Inverness couple also tortured the children with an electric cattle prod and bondage equipment. The two children who were not mistreated were favored by the Dollars and had no physical injuries.

The allegations surfaced Jan. 21 when the couple's 16-year-old son was admitted to a hospital with a head wound and red marks on his neck. He weighed less than 60 pounds. The family lived in a secluded home and the children were home schooled, so no one outside the family knew their conditions.

The Dollars were arrested in Utah in February after leaving the state when the investigation began. They had moved to Florida about two years earlier from Tennessee.

The children who range in age from 12 to 17 have been placed in foster care under the supervision of the state Department of Children & Families.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091405dnnatfla.58cc58bb.html
 
  • #95
Only 15 years?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! IMO, they deserved nothing less than LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE. :furious:


I'm so glad you posted this... coincidentally I was just thinking about this case yesterday, but could not remember where it happened or what the outcome was. It came to mind because of the other case with the 11 children in cages. :(
 
  • #96
The Dollars say their strong religious beliefs led them to pull out toenails of five of their foster children, starve them and give them electric shocks.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published September 15, 2005


INVERNESS - A Citrus County couple accused of torturing and starving five children agreed Wednesday to 15-year prison sentences, then said the crimes occurred because they took their religious beliefs too far.

"We are sorry that the children are hurt," John Dollar said. "We are firm believers in the God almighty ... because of those principles we were led to do certain things."

Those "things," prosecutors say, included pulling out the children's toenails with pliers, starving them and shocking them with a cattle prod.

John and Linda Dollar faced 150 years in prison if convicted at trial. Prosecutors say they offered a plea bargain to spare the children the pain of retelling their ordeal.

Since their return to Florida, the couple have been held at the Citrus County jail, awaiting an Oct. 31 trial.

They were charged with five counts of aggravated child abuse, one count for each child. Their parental rights have been terminated.

Seven of the Dollars' eight adopted children lived with the couple in Pine Ridge, a central Citrus development.

Prosecutors say five of the seven were abused. The oldest Dollar child, Shanda Rae Shelton, 26, moved out of the home a couple of years ago. She is now married and has a child of her own.

The children were not there. According to prosecutors, some of the children are staying in foster homes and others are living in a residential treatment program outside of the county.

Shelton didn't attend the hearing, either. No one came in support of the couple. more at link:http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/15/State/For_torturing_kids__c.shtml
 
  • #97
More about the plea bargain, the sentence, and the children:

For torturing kids, couple get 15 years
The Dollars say their strong religious beliefs led them to pull out toenails of five of their foster children, starve them and give them electric shocks.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published September 15, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


INVERNESS - A Citrus County couple accused of torturing and starving five children agreed Wednesday to 15-year prison sentences, then said the crimes occurred because they took their religious beliefs too far.

"We are sorry that the children are hurt," John Dollar said. "We are firm believers in the God almighty ... because of those principles we were led to do certain things."

Those "things," prosecutors say, included pulling out the children's toenails with pliers, starving them and shocking them with a cattle prod.

John and Linda Dollar faced 150 years in prison if convicted at trial. Prosecutors say they offered a plea bargain to spare the children the pain of retelling their ordeal.

The judge had said the children, ages 13 to 17, could answer attorneys' questions in private, with the jury later watching a videotape.

"My staff and I have been advised by the clinicians at the treatment center that testifying is not in the best interest of the children," Assistant State Attorney Richard Buxman wrote in a prepared explanation. "In fact, it serves only to punish them further."
--->> http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/15/State/For_torturing_kids__c.shtml

I had meant to check back on this case before now, but didn't. I'm glad the plea bargain made a quick resolution to this case, and put those "parents" behind bars for 15 years and 15 years probation beyond that.

"We are sorry that the children are hurt," John Dollar said. "We are firm believers in the God almighty ... because of those principles we were led to do certain things."

I'm a firm believer that the God almighty does NOT uphold any "principles" that result in torture of children.
 
  • #98
It seems like starvation would be attempted murder.
 
  • #99
Prosecutors say five of the seven were abused. The oldest Dollar child, Shanda Rae Shelton, 26, moved out of the home a couple of years ago. She is now married and has a child of her own.
.........................
How could this daughter not report them years ago, she has a child of her own so how could she stand by and not do anything.:furious: I would be keeping an eye on her to make sure her child is not being abused.I hope that these poor kids can get a loving family now to give them a decent life .
 
  • #100
John dollar received 15 years in prison. 5 counts of aggravated child abuse. Sentence is concurrent b/c each count had 15 years. His release date is 03/2018.

Linda Dollar received the same sentence except for some reason her release date is 02/2018.

I got the info off the Florida Inmate Locator page.
http://www.dc.state.fl.us/AppCommon/searchall.asp?Action=Find&SexOffOnly=0
 

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