Spirit Lake Woman Sentenced on Child Abuse Charges

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A woman accused of child abuse on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Thirty-three-year-old Geraldine Dumarce is charged in federal court with child abuse or neglect. Authorities say she has a history of child neglect and her most recent charge stems from an incident in which she was passed out from drinking while her five minor children wandered inside and outside of the house unsupervised.

The tribe's child protection system has come under review in the couple of years after numerous cases of reported child abuse.

Dumarce was also ordered to serve one year in a halfway house.