PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Investigators are trying to figure out how a high-profile couple was able to commit such violent acts of alleged child abuse.

Deputy Attorney General Douglas Barbour and his wife, Kristen Barbour, were arrested Thursday by Allegheny County Police on three charges.

They are currently out on bail.

The couple’s two adopted children were found after enduring what officials called “horrifying acts” of child abuse. One child was found nearly starved to death, the other almost beaten to death.

Although many would call the couple “normal,” Dr. Mary Carrasco warns that their actions were far from normal.

“We have this image of what normal is,” Carrasco said. “Didn’t Sandusky appear normal? He appeared very normal, he appeared generous, he appeared really caring.”

The couple’s 6-year-old boy told investigators that he was made to eat him meals in the dark bathroom when he was bad and said he also said his father, Barbour, threw him to the ground, causing him to hit his head.

The doctor who reviewed the children’s conditions stated that there were five “healing fractures” on the couple’s 18-month-old daughter and recommended that she not be returned home because she was likely to be re-injured or killed.

The Franklin Park couple faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault and simple assault.

According to the investigation, the couple adopted the children from Ethiopia in March through a church organization.

Since that time, sources say the couple did not feed the 6-year-old boy for an extended period of time and that abuse was discovered by doctors at Children’s Hospital.

Phone calls to the Barbour’s attorney were not returned.

The couple is expected to make their first court appearance in a few weeks.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Police Stories
More About This Story