A US couple charged with neglect have claimed that the 6 year old girl they thought they adopted from Ukraine turned out to be a sociopathic adult with dwarfism.
Natalia Grace Barnett, a little person with a rare bone-growth disorder, was adopted from Ukraine by a family who thought she was 6 years old.
Michael and Kristine Barnett of Indianapolis neglected Natalia after discovering her so called “secret” and said Natalia wanted to harm them and their biological children.
They were eventually charged with neglecting their disabled daughter.
The convoluted tale is chronicled in the new docuseries “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” on Investigation Discovery.
Speaking in the documentary, Michael Barnet revealed that questions were raised from the day after her adoption when his wife gave Natalia a bath and was shocked to discover that their “brand-new” little girl had pubic hair.
Within months after her adoption the Barnetts became convinced that Natalia’s Ukrainian birth certificate had been forged when she admitted to having her period despite being just 6 years old.
The family said Natalia’s behaviour got worse as she began hoarding knives and threatening to kill them, attempting to poison them and threatening to stab her older brothers.
The parents eventually discovered that Natalia was born on September 4, 1989 — some 14 years earlier than she claimed.
They put her out but found an apartment for her and paid the monthly rent.
In spite of this, they were still charged with neglect of a dependent as the authorities said that even if Natalia had been an adult at the time she was abandoned, she was dependent on her parents because of her dwarfism.
Michael Barnett was found not guilty of all charges last year while the case against Kristine Barnett was dismissed earlier this year.