Mother gets 3 years for not stopping daughters' abuse by boyfriend

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut: A Connecticut woman who stood by and did nothing as her boyfriend punished her two children by burning their hands on a gas stove has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The New Haven Register reports that 30-year-old Natasha Figueroa was sentenced Tuesday. The New Haven woman previously pleaded guilty to risk of injury to a minor. She was spared a longer sentence because she cooperated with prosecutors and testified against her former boyfriend. He was convicted last year.

Authorities say the 4- and 8-year-old girls had their hands held over an open flame while their mother watched, and in one case, held her daughter's feet.

The younger girl suffered such severe burns that she spent a month in the hospital and was permanently scarred.