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Sibling denied visitation in family torture case

The state DCF argues that the oldest sister knew of abuse happening when she lived with John and Linda Dollar and never reported it.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published February 15, 2005

INVERNESS - Shanda Rae Shelton, one of the adopted children of a Citrus County couple accused of torturing five of their eight adopted children, was denied permission to visit her siblings Tuesday by a Citrus County judge.

Shelton, 25, of New Port Richey, testified that she loved her siblings and wanted to spend time with them. She hasn't lived with her family for three years.

But the Department of Children and Families noted that Shelton knew of abuse happening when she lived with John and Linda Dollar and never reported it, even after she had left the home and gotten married.

In fact, the department said she participated in the abuse of the children - following her parents' orders - by locking the children in rooms.

Shelton said she did that only because she was coerced and threatened by the Dollars, who kept her isolated from society.

Circuit Judge Ric Howard denied Shelton's request, barring her from visiting any of the children, who range in age from 12 to 17. The children have been placed in four foster homes in separate areas.

"That's it," Howard said. "That's the end of the case." He did not go into specifics about his ruling.

Shelton's testimony and public statements shed more light on the puzzling home life of the Dollars, a middle-class couple who hopscotched among several counties and homes in both Florida and Tennessee in the last decade. The couple are accused of heinous crimes against their children, but neither parent has a criminal history and no one ever reported the abuse.

John Dollar, 58, and his 51-year-old wife were arrested in Utah earlier this month and are being brought back to Citrus County to face multiple felony counts. The Dollars' most recent home was in Pine Ridge, which is in the central part of the county.

[Last modified February 15, 2005, 19:56:02]