DA opposing reduced sentence for abusive mom

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The district attorney is arguing against leniency for the wife of a former state prosecutor who's been sentenced to six to 12 months in alternative housing for endangering here two adopted Ethiopian children.

Thirty-two-year-old Kristen Barbour wants to serve the sentence on house arrest, but Allegheny County prosecutors oppose that.

Barbour and her 35-year-old husband Douglas, were sentenced last month after pleading no contest to child endangerment counts in June. Douglas Barbour, who's on probation, resigned from the state attorney general's office after the couple was charged in October 2012.

That's when their 6-year-old adopted son was being malnourished and an 18-month-old girl had multiple head fractures in various stages of healing.

Kristen Barbour claims she'll be unable to care for the couple's two biological children, but prosecutors say her husband and in-laws can help while she's incarcerated.