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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 24, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 10, 2004 %%$$cutline$$%% Judge won’t cut Christine sentence Woman is serving 7½ years in robbery case involving her children The Associated Press ROSEBURG — A judge has refused to reduce the prison sentence of a woman serving 7½ years in prison for helping her husband take their children at gunpoint from state child welfare workers at a freeway rest stop and flee to Montana. Douglas County Circuit Judge William Lasswell ruled Wednesday there was no legal basis to reduce the sentence of Ruth Christine, who was convicted in 2002 of six counts of robbery, custodial interference and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The judge came to the same conclusion last month on a motion from Christine’s husband, Brian, who was convicted on the same counts and is serving 12½ years because he was the one who used the gun. Ruth Christine, 31, told Lasswell that her actions were based on her desire to be reunited with her children. "I’m not saying I didn’t break any laws and shouldn’t receive punishment. However, we’re not only talking about laws but people’s lives," she said. Prosecutor Rick Wesenberg said the law did not provide any option for reducing the sentence. Advertisement Ruth Christine added that she has been a model prisoner at Coffee Creek Correctional Institution in Wilsonville, where she completed anger management classes and other life skills and has been working as a telephone operator for the state Driver & Motor Vehicle Services. After a supervised visit with his children in Grants Pass, Brian Christine held a .357-caliber Magnum revolver on two state child welfare workers at an Interstate 5 rest stop near Myrtle Creek on Aug. 1, 2001, before driving off in their state van with his three daughters, then ages 5, 3 and 2. After switching cars nearby, the couple drove with their children and a friend to Montana. Brian Christine was later arrested for speeding in a rented car, and authorities tracked down the rest of his family living outside Missoula, Mont. The children had been taken into state custody in 2000 after an anonymous caller reported they appeared malnourished while living with their parents in a converted bus near Grants Pass. The girls since have been adopted by Ruth Christine’s parents and live on their dairy farm in England. A fourth child, born after Ruth Christine was arrested, is being cared for by Brian Christine’s mother in Indiana. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers