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In the words of Lori Allain

She pulls no punches in criticizing the child abuse and neglect case against her and her husband.

By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published January 13, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Lori Allain, of course, is the louder, more talkative, much more brash half of the Hernando County couple that was on the lam up until Wednesday. She and her husband, Arthur "Tommy" Allain, have been wanted ever since they skipped the start of their late-October trial, accused of starving their 10-year-old foster daughter down to a skeletal, malnourished 29 pounds. They were arrested Wednesday night in Toms River, N.J., and are now being held at the Ocean County jail.

Most of the time they were on the run, from early November to late December, they made no public comments. In the two weeks leading up the arrest, though, Lori Allain had six phone conversations with the St. Petersburg Times - the most she's ever talked to the news media, by far, dating all the way back to June 2004, when authorities took the girl from the family's cluttered mobile home in rural northwest Hernando.

These are her words.

"I didn't agree her weight was 29 pounds. I think her weight was 34 pounds." - June 20, 2004.

"I have no fear in this case." - July 20, 2004

"I'm going to tell you what. . . . Get up off my family. Got it? And you can quote me on that." - Oct. 20, 2005

"We can't get a fair trial in Hernando County." - Nov. 3, 2005

"When's it going to get real? When are there going to be two sides?" - Dec. 29, 2005

"I want (Circuit Judge Jack) Springstead the f--- off my case. I would rather have a complete unknown than a judge I feel is protecting Hernando County sheriff's butts." - Dec. 29, 2005

"I would like the truth to be out there. To me, the truth comes out, and then me and my husband have no fears." - Jan. 3, 2006

"You've got to understand. The biker world is a very, very big organization, and they're all over the U.S. and the world. When they know you're right . . . you're not going to find us." - Jan. 3, 2006

"People tend to judge us because we have tattoos and wear leather. Everyone keeps referring to this tattoo (across her chest that says "Only God Can Judge Me"). That's been on my chest since 2000. It doesn't come from this case. That's my belief. They stereotype you. All these people can judge me. Guess what? I don't care. On the final day God's going to judge me. And he knows my heart. He knows I'm a good person." - Jan. 3, 2006

"I'm not running because I'm guilty. I left because I'm not going to let anybody take my kids. And I'm not going to do time for something I didn't do." - Jan. 4, 2006

"Maybe, truthfully, you could say I asked for some of this with my smart-a-- attitude. It stems from me, and I know that, because I'm a big mouth. I say what I feel. I don't hold anything back." - Jan. 4, 2006

"When it comes to my kids, I am a b----. Don't screw with my kids." - Jan. 4, 2006

"I was not the perfect angel when I was young. I rode my motorcycle, I went to bars, I drank, I did drugs. I've done what I've done and I can't go back and change it." - Jan. 4, 2006

"My husband and I . . . feel we would not have a prayer's chance in hell in the Hernando County Jail." - Jan. 5, 2006

"People just do not realize how important my family is to me." - Jan. 5, 2006

"Why is it ridiculous that we call you? Are they afraid something is going to come out? Like the truth?" - Jan. 5, 2006

"Talk to anybody. Talk to the schools. They'll tell you what kind of kids I have. They'll tell you what kind of parents we are." - Jan. 5, 2006

"I'm a people person like you wouldn't believe." - Jan. 5, 2006

"When I was a kid, and I saw people on motorcycles, I was always wishing I was on the front. Not on the back. On the front." - Jan. 5, 2006

"I'm not a bad person, Michael." - Jan. 5, 2006

Information from Hernando Today and the Tampa Tribune was used in this report. Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

[Last modified January 13, 2006, 01:46:17]