Mom who let boyfriend burn daughters sentenced

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- A Connecticut woman who stood by and did nothing to stop her boyfriend from burning the hands of two of her children on a gas stove as punishment has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The New Haven Register reports that Natasha Figueroa, 30, 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.

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