Caregiver, 68, Accused In Sex Case Released From Jail

Luella McAdoo, the 68-year-old woman accused of forcing a mentally disabled man to perform oral sex on her, was released on her own recognizance Friday.

The news pleased the mentally disabled man's mother, who said she has been close friends with McAdoo since the late 1960s.

"I never wanted Luella to go to jail," said the woman, who is not being named to avoid identifying her son. "But I felt betrayed by a good friend."

The mother said McAdoo occasionally babysat her son, who cannot speak, needs help dressing himself and has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old.

McAdoo's family says she has Down syndrome and is hearing impaired.

Several friends of McAdoo have died in recent years. "She fell into this depression," said her older brother, Edward McAdoo of East Tampa.

Her family was shocked by her arrest.

"I don't think she would hurt anybody," said her sister, Ida McAdoo.

Tampa police dispute the McAdoo family's contention that Luella has Down syndrome. "There is no indication she has any mental disability at all," said Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis.

The mentally disabled man's mother said that on April 5 she was driving near McAdoo's West Tampa residence and decided to pick up McAdoo.

After she and McAdoo arrived at the mother's home, the mother decided to do some shopping, she said. She left the house, locked the gate, got in her car and started to drive away before remembering she had forgotten to put on her hairpiece, she said.

"I turned back around and parked," the woman said. "I opened the gate, went into the back door and walked through the kitchen, through the living room - and when I walked into the den, that's when I saw them."

They were engaged in a sex act, she said.

The woman said she went into shock.

"I said, 'Lord, no, not my baby, Jesus,'" the woman said. "She is lucky I didn't kill her. When I walked in there, something just took over my body."

McAdoo, the woman said, put her hand over her mouth.

"I said, 'Get your stuff, and let's go,'" the woman said. "I put her in the back seat, put my son in the front, and I took her home. I started crying because I felt hurt at what she had done."

The only thing McAdoo said to her was, "I'm sorry," the woman said. "I said, 'You sorry you got caught.'"

She took McAdoo home, then called police.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested McAdoo this week on a Tampa police warrant. She was held at Orient Road Jail, with bail set at $7,500.

McAdoo told investigators that she was the victim, that the man stripped off her clothing and forced her to comply.

"Who's to say she's not the victim?" said McAdoo's niece, Sabrina McAdoo.

Later, Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Walter Heinrich reminded Sabrina McAdoo that the man has the mental capacity of a small child.

"It's not going to go away easily," the judge said, speaking of Luella McAdoo's charges. "But I don't suspect she is going to go to prison."

Friday, he ordered McAdoo released. She has no criminal record. Under terms of the release, her family had to ensure she returns for a court hearing next week.

"She'll be there," her niece said.