<p>Steven and Edelwina Leschinsky were sentenced to probation. They avoided jail after a plea deal with the court that involved cutting all ties with the girls, who were aged 12, 13 and 14 when the charges were filed, the Coloradoan reported.<br /><br />The prosecution said the girls were punished daily by their foster parents, in a variety of ways "such as performing hundreds of push-ups over a nail-spiked board, running 45 miles in three days and getting choked to the point of vomiting with water from a garden hose".<br /><br />The couple pleaded guilty to three charges of child abuse.<br /><br />As part of the plea deal, they will have to comply with a variety of probation requirements, <br />including 400 hours of community service for the next four years.<br /><br />Russia's ombudsman for children's rights said earlier that 17 Russian children have died in the US as a result of child abuse since adoptions began 15 years ago.<br /><br />The latest official figures show that 60,000 Russia-children have been adopted by families in the US.<br /><br />Russia suspended adoptions last year after a woman in Tennessee sent her seven-year-old adopted son back to Russia, with a note saying she did not want him as he was "psychotic".</p>
<p>Steven and Edelwina Leschinsky were sentenced to probation. They avoided jail after a plea deal with the court that involved cutting all ties with the girls, who were aged 12, 13 and 14 when the charges were filed, the Coloradoan reported.<br /><br />The prosecution said the girls were punished daily by their foster parents, in a variety of ways "such as performing hundreds of push-ups over a nail-spiked board, running 45 miles in three days and getting choked to the point of vomiting with water from a garden hose".<br /><br />The couple pleaded guilty to three charges of child abuse.<br /><br />As part of the plea deal, they will have to comply with a variety of probation requirements, <br />including 400 hours of community service for the next four years.<br /><br />Russia's ombudsman for children's rights said earlier that 17 Russian children have died in the US as a result of child abuse since adoptions began 15 years ago.<br /><br />The latest official figures show that 60,000 Russia-children have been adopted by families in the US.<br /><br />Russia suspended adoptions last year after a woman in Tennessee sent her seven-year-old adopted son back to Russia, with a note saying she did not want him as he was "psychotic".</p>