Adoptive father is sentenced

Nov 10, 1989

STEVE MILLBURG

St. Petersburg Times

WEST PALM BEACH - David Allen Lindsey Sr., the first single man to adopt children in Florida, was sentenced Thursday to five and a half years in prison after being convicted of lewd assault on a 14-year-old boy in a park. After his prison term, Lindsey must serve three years on probation and is forbidden to have contact with children under age 16. In an emotional appeal for mercy, Lindsey said he was innocent. ``I am not the person the prosecution portrayed me as,`` said the 45-year-old cabinetmaker as he read from a handwritten statement. ``I only know how to love; I don't know how to hate.`` Lindsey was found guilty Sept. 28 of two counts of lewd assault but found innocent of five other charges, including kidnapping. He also faces assault charges involving one adopted son, two boys Lindsey tried to adopt and one young family friend.

Source: pqasb.pqarchiver.com

Publication date: 1989 Nov 10

Cases: Boys adopted by David Allen Lindsey Sr.