Wife in Wakefield child sex abuse case in court

WOBURN, Mass. (WHDH) -- The wife of the Wakefield man accused of 100 counts of child sex abuse had a pre-trial hearing Thursday.

Court documents say John Burbine's wife, Marian Burbine, ran an unlicensed day care company. Prosecutors said she allowed the children to be with her husband, a convicted sex offender.

John Burbine is in custody accused in what the District Attorney calls the worst case of child sex abuse he has ever seen. Prosecutors said the 49-year-old raped toddlers and babies; one child was just 8 days old.

Marian Burbine, 46, was in court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing. Her defense attorney convinced the judge to relax her house arrest.

“Today we’re just on a tracking schedule -- pre-trial conference, and we just set up dates for what we see is going to be coming down the road,” said John Ruehrwein, defense attorney. “I’m not going to comment about my client’s business.”

Marian Burbine has only been allowed out of her Wakefield home for an hour a day and has had to wear a GPS bracelet since her arrest on charges of endangering children and running an unlicensed day care.

The judge made changes to Marian Burbine’s house arrest: She is allowed out of her house for 1.5 hours a day and she’s allowed out of her house on Sundays, but only to attend church.