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January 25, 2007
Mother of Coralrose gets to visit kids alone
Topics: NewsA judge approves the visits for Ellen-Beth Fullwood but not for her husband, Dale.
By GINNY LAROE
ginny.laroe@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA -- The mother of a slain North Port girl will now be allowed to spend time alone with her four youngest children, but her husband's visits must still be supervised.
A judge on Wednesday ruled in Ellen-Beth Fullwood's favor, but said she couldn't ignore the pending child pornography charges against Dale Fullwood.
Fullwood has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of possession of child pornography and is scheduled to go to trial in July.
The judge's ruling came after testimony from a North Port detective, who said DNA found during the investigation into 6-year-old Coralrose's death clears the Fullwoods in the sexual battery case.
They have not been cleared in her killing.
"Every lead that has been developed has still been ruled in," Detective Tom Stella said about the homicide investigation.
After the hearing, Stella, the lead investigator on Coralrose's homicide, said the Fullwoods were cleared in the sexual battery "based solely on the DNA," which does not match any family members.
Police have not elaborated on what kind of DNA evidence they have.
Ellen-Beth Fullwood plans to divorce Dale Fullwood. She said during testimony Wednesday that she opposed her husband having unsupervised visitation because of the pornography charges and because of "anxieties" she had in the past.
Fullwood said that when Coralrose and her now 12-year-old daughter were between the ages of 2 and 4, she saw "red flags" such as urinary tract infections and that they were "exploring" their bodies more than she thought was normal.
She said she took her daughters to pediatricians who said nothing was wrong, so she didn't report her suspicions to authorities.
The Fullwoods are scheduled to go to trial in February to settle the custody matter that began immediately after Coralrose's body was discovered in a wooded lot near her family's home on Sept. 17.
The Department of Children & Families took Coralrose's four siblings, who range in ages from 4 to 12, after police reported alarming living conditions inside the family's North Port home.
Since then, the children have been living with their maternal grandparents in Lee County.
Police have said more than one person may be involved in the girl's death.
Posted by admin at January 25, 2007 8:57 AM
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