After placing their newborn daughter in a trash receptacle, two Kentucky teens will serve 12 months probation per a judge’s ruling on Friday (Feb. 10). According to the Associated Press, the adolescent parents, 16 and 18, were convicted of third-degree criminal abuse and wanton endangerment.
The Lexington Herald Leader adds that McCracken Circuit Judge Craig Clymer denied charging them with attempted murder. “The court could not have certified them…as adults on the crimes for which the jury found them guilty. So we then have to go back to the juvenile code and treat them as juveniles as far as the sentencing goes,” he said.
In addition to the supervised probation, the teens will undergo a Four Rivers moral therapy program. The mother previously served four months in a juvenile detention center, while the father served 11 months.
The newborn baby girl was found in a dumpster in 2015, and was swiftly rushed to a nearby hospital. Per the judge’s mandate, a monthly fee of $150 will be paid by the teens to the clerk’s office, which will ultimately support the child. A relative is currently the baby’s guardian.