On Tuesday, Douglas County Circuit Judge William Lasswell sentenced Ruth and Brian Christine, both 29, each to 7 1/2 years in prison for robbery, custodial interference and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Brian Christine was sentenced to an additional five years in prison for using a gun to take his children from welfare workers.

Last August, the Christines took their three daughters, 5, 3 and 2, at the time, from state social workers by gunpoint shortly after a supervised visit. The state took the children from the Christines after receiving reports that the girls were malnourished and dehydrated.

The jury acquitted the Christines on kidnapping charges. The jury took less than three hours on Friday to come to the verdict.

The oldest of the Christine daughters, Bethany Christine, was called as witness by the prosecution. The little girl testified that she saw her father point a gun at social workers taking her and her two younger sisters back to foster care.

The Christine's defense attorney, Edgar Steele, objected to calling Bethany to the stand, claiming the experience would scar the child for life. Bethany pointed to prosecutor Rick Wesenberg when Steele asked the six-year-old if anyone told her testify that her father pointed the gun.

ROSEBURG, Ore. (KPTV) -- A Grants Pass couple accused of taking their own children from state workers at gunpoint, may have to face those children in court.

The attorney for Brian and Ruth Christine wants to bar the three children from testifying. He says they're too young to understand the ramifications of their testimony.

The judge has not made a decision yet, but Thursday he said the children's ages would not affect their credibility. The state took custody of the children, after someone told police the children looked emaciated.

Instead, the Christines being charged with kidnapping the social workers and interfering with the state's custody of the Christine children. The Christine were accused of kidnapping their children at gun point from social workers at an I-5 rest area last August.

State social workers took custody of the girls in July of 2000, after the family was found living in a converted bus they drove from Indiana to Grants Pass. An informant told police the girls were being starved to discipline them. The girls, ages three --four and six at the time --were described as malnourished and dehydrated at a local hospital.

Prosecutors would like the Chritine's children to testify against them in court, but the defense attorney objected in court, saying the experience would be traumatic.

In July of 2000, child welfare workers took away Ruth and Brian Christine's three, four and six-year-old daughters, which sparked a chain of events that may forever break up the family.

Social workers took away the children after someone reported the girls malnourished. At the time, the Christine's were living in a bus near Grants Pass.

According to police, Brian Christine then took matters into his own hands and kidnapped the girls at gunpoint from social workers. The Christine's then took the children to Montana, where they were later discovered by authorities.

Both of the Christines were jailed, but Ruth recently made bail and is free. Brian Christine is still in jail. Ruth Christine has had two more children since her daughters were taken away. She has since appeared on NBC’s Today show to tell her side of the story.

Ruth Christine's two children she gave bith while in jail are currently in the custody of her husband's mother in Indiana. The three older daughters are living in England with Ruth Christine's parents.

The fifth daughter of Ruth and Brian Christine, Abby Rose Christine, was born September 24th while Ruth Christine was in jail in Missoula, Montana.

The infant will live with Brian's mother, Teri Christine in Indiana, Rich Angell of Missoula says .

Another of the couple's daughters is already living with Teri Christine. After a complaint their parents were starving the girls to discipline them while living in a converted city bus in Grants Pass, the three other daughters had been placed in state custody .

Brian and Ruth Christine are fighting extradition. The couple is currently in jail in Montana, where they were arrested last week.

Police say Brian Christine kidnapped his three daughters at gunpoint, from a state welfare worker outside Grants Pass.