Politics & Government

Terms Set For Mrs. Burbine Home Confinement

Marian Burbine made court appearance Thursday morning, with next one set for February 13th.

Marian Burbine made a short court appearance on Thursday morning, largely to set the terms of her ongoing home confinement in connection with the child sex abuse case against her husband.

Mrs. Burbine and her husband operated the former Waterfall Education Center in downtown Wakefield, and also offered tutoring and daycare services that would reportedly often take place at the children's homes. Her husband had been classified a Level 1 sex offender back in 1989, which has touched off a separate legislative debate over how to reform the current system used to share information on sex offenders.

At least one of the alleged victims is from Waltham.

Under the terms agreed to in court, Mrs. Burbine, 46, is free to leave her home for 90 minutes each day between Monday and Friday to attend to various needs. She is to remain at home on Saturdays, and on Sundays she is permitted to attend religious services.

Her next expected court appearance is on Feb. 13, when the next presumed step for the defense would be a motion to dismiss. In total, she is charged with six counts of reckless endangerment of a child and two counts of operating an illegal day care business.

Find out what's happening in Walthamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mrs. Burbine sat quietly in court during the appearance and left Middlesex Superior Court without speaking to reporters. Her attorney, John Ruehrwein, declined to answer questions about his client's activities, state of mind, or whether she has had any contact at all with her husband.

Ruehrwein also emphasized that at this early point in the legal process, the expected motion to dismiss is largely just a routine step.

"It's just a date at this point, it's too early to tell," said the attorney.

Find out what's happening in Walthamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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