FARMINGTON – A New Sharon woman was sentenced to serve 30 days of a five-year sentence and six years probation after she pleaded guilty Monday to arson for setting fire to her family’s home last year.

Christine Bissonnette, 42, who faced up to 30 years in prison for the crime, was also ordered by Franklin County Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar to take all of her medication and to adhere to treatment.

Bissonnette, who has a history of mental illness, had set fire in multiple places on all three levels of the home at 51 Smith Road in New Sharon on March 17, 2006.

Bissonnette’s husband, George, and their five children were not home at the time.

A son discovered the fire when he returned home early afternoon and called 911.

Assistant District Attorney James Andrews said that if the case went to trial, a state fire investigator would testify that the fire was set in 13 different places and Bissonnette wore latex gloves and used wooden matches and gasoline to set the fire and tried to hide the evidence. She didn’t admit to setting the fire until she was faced with the evidence and asked for a DNA sample, he said.

The court would have heard that Bissonnette was angry at the time and her intent was to damage the inside of the house so that her husband would complete the construction there, Andrews said.

Dr. Lourdes Soto-Moreno, a psychiatrist who is the medical director of Evergreen Behavioral Services in Farmington, testified that she had known Bissonnette from 1998 and started treating her off and on in 2002.

Under questioning by Bissonnette’s lawyer, David Sanders, Soto-Moreno said that Bissonnette is mentally ill, has a mood disorder and suffers from depression. She also gets overwhelmed with stress and might not know how to respond and react at times, Soto-Moreno said.

The doctor said that after talking to Bissonnette that “She didn’t have criminal intention. I don’t think she wanted to hurt anybody. She wanted to do some damage but didn’t think the repercussion was going to be as devastating.”

There have been no further incidents in the 11 months after the fire, Sanders said. His client has been treated at three psychiatric hospitals since then and taken it upon herself to commit to treatment, he said.

Andrews said Bissonnette had not handled anger appropriately on three other occasions, including striking children on two occasions – one that resulted in a conviction of assault.

Andrews, who acknowledged Bissonnette’s mental health illness, said the fire was not an impulsive act and required some thought, some planning.

He recommended a maximum sentence of six years in prison and she undergo psychological treatment. Andrews and Sanders agreed previously that Bissonnette serve no more than one year in jail and be on six years probation after release.

Bissonnette’s husband, George, said jailing his wife is not going to address her issues. She needs to be at home with the family to help her, he said.

“The kids are not afraid of Christine,” he said.

She is more aware of her feelings, as is the family, he said, and now seeks help.

“I’m sorry to my husband and my children for what I have done,” Christine Bissonnette said, crying and wiping tears from her eyes.

Jabar said the court was not going to recommend Bissonnette serve a year in jail but wanted to impress upon her that there are serious consequences for what happened and what could happen if she does not take her medication and adhere to treatment.