Judge Grants Parole For Woman Convicted Of Abusing Adopted Kids
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A woman convicted of abusing her Ethiopian adoptive children was paroled Tuesday morning.
Judge Jeffrey Manning paroled Kristen Barbour from her jail sentence during a hearing, but she will still be on house arrest for several months.
In October, Barbour was sentenced to six to 12 months in jail, but with work release to care for her biological children in Mercer County. But at night she would sleep in the Mercer County Jail.
Today, though, at the end of the sixth month, Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning paroled her after her lawyer asked the court to do so. She remained in Mercer County during today's hearing in Pittsburgh.
"Her minimum has been served," said defense attorney Robert Stewart. "He ordered six to 12 months to be followed by four years' probation. Her minimum was served as of a week ago, and as such, given no misconducts, I expected her to be paroled… actually paroled without any restrictions, but the judge saw fit to put the restriction of house arrest."
The case has drawn a lot of attention. The defense says an inordinate amount.
Joanna Huss, a mother who organized a protest demonstration in October over the sentence, said today, "Well, certainly the judge was within the standard, was in the standard guidelines of sentencing, so the concern is, is the standard too low? And we think it is."
But the defense attorney, quoting the judge in a previous ruling told reporters, "And I'm quoting him, 'She's been the subject of repugnant detestable talk show hosts and yammering cockamamy callers.' Those are his words not mine. But she has been treated differently. This should have been routine," said Robert Stewart.
The house arrest provision is expected to last another six months.
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