Hearing postponed, couple facing new charges in child abuse case

Hearing postponed, couple facing new charges in child abuse case

Posted: Monday, November 19, 2012 5:35 pm

By Jenny Wagner jwagner@timesonline.com | 1 comment

LEETSDALE -- A preliminary hearing for a Franklin Park couple accused of abusing their adopted children from Ethiopia was continued Monday after new charges were filed in the case.

Douglas Benjamin Barbour, 33, of 2552 Cole Road was charged Oct. 4 with two counts of endangering the welfare of children and one count each of aggravated assault and simple assault. His wife, Kristen Brianne Barbour, 30, of the same address, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of children and one count of aggravated assault.

According to online court documents, Douglas Barbour now also faces two counts of reckless endangerment, and one count each of aggravated assault and simple assault. Kristen Barbour also faces one count of reckless endangerment and three counts of simple assault.

Allegheny County police filed the original charges after Douglas Barbour, a state deputy attorney general, took his 6-year-old adopted son to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh with hypothermia and skin breakdown.

Doctors determined that the boy had lost several pounds since the Barbours adopted him, and he developed a rash that was caused by ongoing contact with urine, police said.

The couple’s 18-month-old adopted daughter also was taken to the hospital the same day for a seizure, according to a criminal complaint. Police said the girl had hemorrhaging in her brain caused by “abusive head trauma” and had several healing fractures.

The Barbours were released from the Allegheny County Jail on Oct. 5 after each posting $25,000 bonds. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18 in Leetsdale District Court, according to court documents.