Franklin Park Couple Charged of Abusing Adopted Children Seek Custody of Biological Children

A Franklin Park couple accused of physically abusing and starving two children they adopted from Ethiopia in March are asking again to be reunited with their biological children, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

 Douglas Barbour, a Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General, is also charged with simple assault, court documents show.  

Barbour has been suspended from his state job without pay, Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement after the couple's arrest Oct. 4.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning has delayed ruling on the issue until Thursday when he will hear from a doctor who evaluated the situation, the PG reported.

The Barbour's attorneys argue the issue should be mute, because a family court judge ruled that the children should be reunified with their parents. But a condition of their bond is to have only limited contact with the children, according the Post-Gazette.

Attorney Robert E. Stewart, who represents Kristen Barbour, said the doctor found that the children could be returned to their parents without being endangered.

But Deputy District Attorney Laura Ditka told the P-G, "if they fall out of line, then they could be at risk like the other children were."

Ditka also argued to Judge Manning that the older biological child, a girl who is now 5, may be a witness in the case, and that she could be influenced by her parents if she were returned.

The biological children are in the care of their grandparents and have supervised visits with their parents about twice a week, Douglas Barbour's attorney Charles Porter told the P-G.

There have been no allegations of abuse against those two children.

The couple adopted the children from Ethiopia in March, according to a criminal complaint filed by county police. An investigation began Sept. 29 after the children—a 1-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy—were treated at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, authorities said.

Read more about the case here. 

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