Foster father goes on trial

Foster father goes on trial

Sep 12, 1989

DAVID CONYERS

St. Petersburg Times

WEST PALM BEACH - A man once celebrated as one of Florida's first single foster fathers went on trial Monday on charges that he kidnapped and molested a 14-year-old boy. The trial is the first of four for David Allen Lindsey Sr., a 45-year-old cabinetmaker once considered a hero for turning his home into a haven for troubled boys. Lindsey also is charged with abusing three of the 11 boys that he adopted and a friend of one of the boys. In the case that went on trial Monday, the boy told police he was walking home from school on March 12, 1987, and stopped at a park, where Lindsey offered him a ride. The boy accepted and was driven to a remote area of the park, where Lindsey sexually assaulted him, he told investigators. Lindsey has said he is innocent in all the cases. But in March 1988 he agreed to plead guilty to molesting two boys - one an adopted son - in exchange for 10 years' probation.