Pair abandons adopted dwarf girl to move to Canada
A formerly married couple from Indiana has been accused of abandoning their adoptive dwarf daughter in favour of moving to Canada with their biological children.
Kristine and Michael Barnett were charged on Sept. 11 with felony neglect after allegedly leaving an 11-year-old girl with dwarfism from Ukraine at an apartment in Lafayette, Ind., in order to move to Canada.
News outlet WISH-TV reported cops allege the girl was abandoned in July 2013 with the neglect continuing until February 2016. Court documents stated the Barnetts continued to pay the apartment’s rent where the girl was living.
Kristine told WISH-TV she wasn’t aware of the charges until she was told by the news station. The woman called the girl a “diagnosed psychopath and sociopath.”
In a letter reportedly written by a doctor Kristine had given to WISH-TV, the girl “has made a career of perpetuating her age facade” and had been previously committed to a psychiatric hospital and had been diagnosed with sociopathic personality disorder in 2012.
The letter allegedly stated the girl admitted she was over 18 and determining her true age was difficult because records from Ukrainian officials were “grossly incomplete.”
Kristine stated the girl’s adoption was a “scam” and had been an adult the entire time she lived with the family.
The Daily Mail reported the Barnetts legally adopted the girl in 2010. When doctors examined the unnamed girl, she was determined to be roughly eight years old.
Two years later, the couple had the girl’s legal age changed from 10 to 22.
When interviewed by cops, Michael told them his wife counselled the girl to tell people she was 22 and only looked young if ever questioned, the Washington Post reported.
In a 2012 appearance on 60 Minutes, the Barnetts beamed about their autistic son Jake, who was a math and science prodigy and a college sophomore at age 13.
The Barnetts moved to Canada with their three biological children so Jake could further pursue his studies. According to his Facebook profile , Jake is currently a PhD student at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ont.
Michael told cops besides paying rent, he and his now ex-wife never financially supported the adopted girl.
According to WISH-TV, the neglect in the case ended on Feb. 26, 2016, when the girl moved out of the apartment. Fifteen days later, another couple applied to become her legal guardians.
Citing the girl’s age issue, the Barnetts reportedly filed an objection to the adoption petition. The petition was abandoned in January 2018 when the other couple changed their minds.
On Sunday, Kristine took to Facebook to say she hasn’t been arrested.
“I am sick and devastated from the idea of any of these charges and maintain that they are false charges,” Kristine wrote.