The Associated Press

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - Prosecutors have dropped their case against a woman who spent eight days in jail on charges she allowed her children to become severely sunburned.

Eve Hibbits, 31, of Brilliant, had faced a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment, but it was dismissed Wednesday by Jefferson County Prosecutor Bryan Felmet.

"The children are being well taken care of and we're satisfied with that," Mr. Felmet said Thursday. "There's really no need to continue with the prosecution when the changes that needed to be made have been made and there's no danger to the children."

Ms. Hibbits was arrested Aug. 14, after a sheriff's deputy noticed her 2-year-old daughter, Rose, and 10-month-old twin boys, Thomas and Timmy, had sunburned faces at the Jefferson County Fair the day before. Temperatures were in the 90s at the time.

Ms. Hibbits was then charged with three counts of felony child endangerment, but the charges were reduced after authorities said the children were not as severely injured as they originally believed.

Ms. Hibbits' attorney, Shawn Blake, said prosecutors charged his client too quickly.

"There was nothing wrong with these kids in the past. There was nothing wrong with them from some sunburn. There was absolutely no evidence to substantiate a criminal complaint," he said.

Mr. Blake said his client would have been willing to fight the charge in court.

"We were not going to plead this case out," he said. "She simply did not do anything wrong."

After Ms. Hibbits was arrested, Sheriff Fred Abdalla said the faces of her children looked like they had been "dipped in red paint."

They did not have sunscreen or shirts on when a deputy spotted them and took them to a first aid station, Sheriff Abdalla said.

They were later treated at a hospital and released.

Mr. Felmet said the original charges against Ms. Hibbits came from information obtained in the early stages of the investigation.

"Had I known then what I know today, it would have been handled differently," Mr. Felmet said Thursday. "But the original reports showed a dangerous situation. The actual evidence didn't bear that out, which is what happens in a lot of cases."

Sheriff Abdalla said he had no problem with the charge against Ms. Hibbits being dropped.

"No one wanted her to go to jail for this, as long as she gets help and children services is involved," he said. "My concern was for the safety of the children."

Mr. Blake said Ms. Hibbits is cooperating with children services workers, although there is no court order for her to do so.

"We didn't want to create a position that there's something to hide here," he said.