Posted: Saturday, October 20, 2007 12:00 am
Christina Renfro was sentenced Friday in Linn County Circuit Court to 1½ years in prison for withholding food from a young girl in her charge.
Following a six-day trial in July, Circuit Court Judge Rick McCormick found Renfro, 29, guilty of three counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and one count of third-degree assault.
The judge also found that the state had proved two aggravating factors: deliberate cruelty and harm greater than typical.
McCormick handed down the prison sentence Friday along with three years of postprison supervision. Renfro will get credit for time served and earned credit. She will be eligible for alternative programs after she has served the first half of her sentence.
According to evidence in the trial, Renfro had withheld food from a girl, now 8, who was living in her home in Albany before the summer of 2005.
When the girl was removed from the home by the Department of Human Services, doctors determined that she had suffered from moderate to severe malnutrition, and she was hospitalized two days after the removal due to complications of being malnourished.
The girl, who was believed to have been the biological daughter of Renfro's then-boyfriend, now husband, was later determined to not be biologically related.
The girl and her twin brother are now in foster care.
There were six children living in the Renfro home in the summer of 2005.
During Friday's hearing, Renfro said she was sorry to all the children that they were "drug through this."
She said that because of media attention she has lost everything, including respect in the community.
Renfro's husband, Mark Renfro, was also charged in the case. He previously agreed to plea negotiations and was convicted on similar charges. He was given a short jail sentence.
By Carrie Petersen, Albany Democrat-Herald. She can be reached at carrie.petersen@lee.net.