A 76 year old Newton woman accused of using some money meant for her dependent adult son has been sentenced on a reduced charge. In July…Newton Police charged Donna Lee Barnes-Hicks with Dependent Adult Abuse. She was free on her own recognizance. This week she was sentenced on a reduced charge of 4th Degree Theft. The criminal complaint filed in her case says from June 10th of 2022 through February 3rd 2023, Barnes-Hicks received in her bank account 6-thousand 495-dollars on her son’s behalf. The money was his Social Security Disability and Social Security Supplemental Income. It’s meant to assist with her son’s living expenses at housing arranged by Progress Industries. But out of that 64-hundred dollars, authorities said Barnes-Hicks only paid Progress Industries just over 22-hundred dollars. That’s well short of the 48-hundred dollars in rent and utility payments her son owed to Progress Industries for that 8-month period. District Associate Judge Steven Holwerda has imposed a 430-dollar civil penalty against Barnes Hicks. She’ll be on probation for one year, and could owe restitution. A hearing on that is scheduled for next month.