Terror Begins at Home

In a case that begs to be swept under the rug and
instinctively makes all but the terminally voyeuristic turn away, the
horrorific saga
of the Dollar family continues to disgust public opinion and beg for
an answer to the questions "How could this happen and what can we do
to make sure it doesn’t happen again?"

To the Dowbrigade, there are two key factors in this case which
contain the key to the answers to those two questions. First,
the children were legally adopted, and second they were home
schooled.

The first of these facts means that the State had multiple opportunities
to vet, observe, evaluate, visit and monitor the family.  Any functional
adoptions system MUST include multiple fail safes to protect the innocent
lives entrusted to it The aching desperation of a child longing to be
part of a real, caring family is only matched by the heartfelt desire
of childless couples to create a nurturing family as well. However,
as this case illustrates, we cannot count on these attributes and must
be constantly vigilant of sick individuals jacking the system for their
own nefarious needs and ends.

The second fact further fuels our longstanding rejection of and
concern about the growing phenomena of home schooling. The far majority
of normal
parents, even the good ones, cannot and should not try to double
as parents AND teachers. Unfortunately many of the parents who choose
this route are far from the best of the bunch. THIS SITUATION COULD NEVER
HAVE HAPPENED IF THE DOLLAR CHILDREN HAD BEEN ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOL!
As a commenter on
a previous
posting on the topic noted, Paul Bernardo,
Fred West, Ted Bundy were all homeschooled. We are convinced that the
next 20 years of American history are going to be full of
serial killers, homegrown terrorists, bizarre cults, serial child abusers, religious
fundamentalists, rabid right-wing politicians and other forms of experiential
extremists involving home school
alums. How long before we realize that universal public education is
what made America great, and needs to be protected.

Meanwhile, for those with strong stomachs, here are the details
of the Dollar disaster…

Five of the couple’s seven adopted children, ages 12 to
17, told Florida investigators they were tortured by the couple, subjected
to electric shocks, beatings with hammers and having their toenails yanked
out with pliers.

A search of the home Friday revealed an electric cattle prod, sticks, belts
and a vise that were allegedly used in the acts.The case is now expanding
beyond Citrus County. Investigators believe the abuse also happened in
Hillsborough County and in Tennessee.

"When the children interviewed with our detectives here in Citrus
County, much of the abuse that they talked about, such as the pulling out
of toenails
with pliers, the vise holding their feet and squeezing, chains, bondage,
all those kinds of things — much of that physical abuse occurred in other
jurisdictions other than Citrus County," said Gail Tierney, with the
Citrus County Sheriff’s Office.

Tierney said her department plans to add
four counts of aggravated child abuse/torture – for a total of five,
one for each child
– against
Linda Dollar, 51. Dollar’s 58-year-old husband will face those charges
and a sixth accusing him of causing head and neck injuries that sent
their 16-year-old son to a north Citrus County hospital Jan. 21, about
five months
after they moved here.

The boy, allegedly dropped into a fireplace, weighed 59 pounds when
his mother called 911 after the incident.

Twin 14-year-old siblings weighed 36 and 38 pounds, and two other children
in the home were malnourished.

Reportedly, in the home-schooling portion of this nightmare, their toenails were pulled out when they answered a question incorrectly. As an educator, this detail made us physically ill.

from nbc6 and tbo news