EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio - The judge who sentenced the woman East Liverpool police found passed out in a car with a four-year-old child, is reacting to the storm of social media comments about the case.

East Liverpool Municipal Court Judge Melissa Byers-Emmerling, who sentenced Rhonda Pasek to six months in jail on Thursday for child endangering, sent out a news release on Friday to, in her words, "correct comments and information on various social media website that are inaccurate regarding the sentence."

It is Pasek and James Acord who are seen in the photos circulated on Facebook by East Liverpool Police. Both are slumped over in the front seat of a car due to a suspected drug overdose, as Pasek's grandson looks on from the backseat.

The photos have gone viral internationally on the internet and other media, spurring a tidal wave of opinions posted on social media.

Judge Byers-Emmerling's news release did not specifically point out the social media comments and information she believes are incorrect, but the judge's responses are focused on criticism about her sentencing of Pasek.

The judge writes:

"Defendant Rhonda L. Pasek received the maximum jail sentence permitted by Ohio Law for a Misdemeanor of the first degree, Child Endangering. The maximum penalty is six months in jail ie. 180 days in jail. The Ohio Legislature decides what is a crime and maximum penalty in jail a Judge can impose."

Judge Byers-Emmerling also pointed out that Pasek will have access to drug and alcohol counseling while she is serving her jail sentence:

"If a defendant receives a maximum jail sentence, the defendant cannot be placed upon Probation. However, the Columbiana County Jail has drug and alcohol counseling available through the Family Recovery Center. Therefore, for the next six months, Defendant Pasek has access to drug and alcohol counseling. since she will not have access to illegal drugs during incarceration but will have drug and alcohol counseling this is the best treatment for her drug addiction while at the same time protecting the public. The defendant lives in West Virginia and therefore is not eligible for funding from the State of Ohio for her drug and alcohol counseling. This Ohio Court has no power to force West Virginia to provide drug and alcohol counseling or her home state to pay for it. Defendant Pasek's only income according to her financial form is SSI and food stamps. She is indigent and unable to pay for her drug and alcohol counseling.”

The judge summed up her comments by writing:

“Again, the Columbiana jail has appropriate and long term drug and alcohol counseling services available to Defendant Pasek.”