Robin Gibson

rgibson@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE – Two parents who pleaded guilty to starving their children after using up all their money to “follow a church” have at least another year to serve in Indiana prisons.

And once that time is served, they’ll face trial again, this time in Missouri, where most of the neglect actually occurred.

Jason Doty, then 40, and Amy J. Doty, then 34, were arrested in June 2012 after their two young daughters, then ages 19 months and 4 years, were taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital suffering from severe malnourishment.

According to Muncie police, the children had been taken to the hospital after going weeks without proper nutrition — and only at the urging of a family member alarmed by the children’s condition after the family’s return to Muncie the week before.

The Dotys told police they had moved to Branson, Mo., that March “to follow a church ministry,” but eventually used up all their savings so they had no money to feed the family, sometimes giving the children no more than water and a few crackers for 2-4 days at a time, according to police.

Both children were visibly underweight by the time they moved back to Muncie; the 19-month-old weighed only 17 pounds and had been unable to walk for weeks, police said. Muncie police and Deputy Prosecutor Joe Orick noted that, despite the children’s condition, neither parent appeared to be starving. “Somebody was getting fed, but it wasn’t the children,” Orick said at the sentencing hearing.

At their sentencing in August 2013, Amy’s older sister, Sandra Whitehead, said in a prepared statement that the two girls — by then ages 2 and 5 — continued to suffer from nightmares, difficulty eating without gagging, problems with social skills and even brain damage as a result of the malnutrition they’d suffered.

Whitehead — who, with her husband, was raising the girls — said she intended to adopt the children and hoped the Dotys’ parental rights would be terminated. “They didn’t really want kids in the first place, and they only had them to please their God,” she said during the hearing. “They had to be forced to get their two little girls needed attention.”

Before they were sentenced, both of the Dotys said they wanted to get their children back once they were out of prison. Court records regarding adoption and termination of parental rights are closed, but an advocate supporting the Whiteheads said recently they were proceeding with the adoption.

Both of the Dotys remained in the Delaware County jail for more than a year, from the time of their arrest until being sentenced by Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick in August 2013 to seven years’ imprisonment and six months’ probation. Under a plea agreement, each of them pleaded guilty to the more serious count they faced, felony neglect of a dependent, while a lesser charge was dropped.

Both are in prison, Jason Doty in Putnamville Correctional Facility with an earliest possible release date of Sept. 23, 2015, and Amy Doty in Indiana Women’s Prison with an earliest possible release date of Dec. 22, 2015.

The repercussions of the case will likely continue even after they’re both released, however. Each of the Dotys faces two felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child in Branson, Mo. Orick said after their sentencing in Muncie that he had supplied officials in Branson with information from the Muncie cases in hopes of having charges there increased.

Taney County (Mo.) Prosecutor Jeffrey Merrell told The Star Press recently that the Dotys’ cases are pending because they are still imprisoned in Indiana. Each faces a possible prison sentence up to seven years in Missouri if found guilty there, he said.

Because of their current imprisonment, he said, court dates haven’t been set yet, but once they’re released in Indiana, Jason and Amy Doty will be sent to Missouri on warrants to face the charges there. “Once we get them back here we’ll be able to set court dates and move forward,” he said.

Contact news reporter Robin Gibson at (765) 213-5855 and follow her on Twitter at @RobinGibsonTSP.

WHAT HAPPENED: Jason and Amy Doty were arrested in June 2012 on charges of neglect of a dependent after their children, then ages 19 months and 4 years, were taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital and found to be severely malnourished. The parents told police they had moved to Branson, Mo., that March “to follow a church ministry,” but after using up their savings had no money to feed their children or themselves. Days after returning to Muncie, the Dotys took their children to the hospital, which reported them to authorities.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: Under a plea agreement, each of the parents in August 2013 pleaded guilty to the more serious count they faced, neglect of a dependent, while a lesser charge was dropped. Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick sentenced each of them to the maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and six months’ probation, close to the maximum sentence.

WHAT’S UP NOW: Both remain in prison, Jason Doty with an earliest possible release date of Sept. 23, 2015, and Amy Doty with an earliest possible release date of Dec. 22, 2015. Both face additional felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child in Missouri, where most of the neglect actually occurred. Jeffrey Merrell, Taney County (Mo.) prosecutor, said the Dotys are charged but their cases are still pending, without court dates set, since they are in prison in Indiana for at least the next year.