Nearby: Franklin Park Couple's Trial on Child Abuse Charges Begins

by Jessica Sinichak

A Franklin Park couple charged with abusing and starving two children they adopted from Ethiopia more than a year ago are scheduled to go on trial Tuesday, July 9 at 9 a.m.

The case against Douglas Barbour and his wife, Kristen, will be heard before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning.

Douglas Barbour, a Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General, has been suspended from his state job without pay since he and his wife were arrested Oct. 4.

According to the criminal complaint, the Barbours are accused of starving their adopted 6-year-old son and leaving him with lesions from being kept in urine-soaked clothing for long periods of time.

Their 18-month-old adopted daughter will likely remain permanently blind in one eye and paralyzed after suffering abusive head trauma, according to the criminal complaint.

A doctor determined she had suffered multiple hemorrhages, fractures and injuries to both eyes and had been a victim of physical abuse, including abusive head trauma, the complaint states.

The Barbour's defense attorney, Charles Porter previously told Patch they dispute the allegations.

Dr. Rachel Berger at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC recommended that the boy be permitted no contact with the Barbours. She also determined that their 18-month-old adopted girl not be returned to the Barbours' home, police said in the complaint.

The couple also has two biological children. They are not accused of abusing them.

The couple recently moved from their Franklin Park home to live with Douglas Barbour's parents in Mercer County.