WHEELING, W.Va. — The mother of a missing West Virginia girl has been released from custody once again following a third time violating probation.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey Wednesday released Lena Lunsford on probation following a hearing in Wheeling.
Bailey was contemplating during the hearing whether to permanently revoke Lunsford’s probation following her latest arrest, but instead sentenced her to time served.
Lunsford was arrested a third time after she failed to stay away from the convicted felon who fathered what will be her eighth child.
A judge had warned Lunsford of the possibility of imprisonment and a contempt-of-court prosecution after her second arrest last month.
Lunsford served eight months for welfare fraud following the September 2011 disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter Aliayah from their Lewis County home. The child hasn’t been seen since.