IN - Couple charged with abandonment of adopted child after legally changing her age, Sept 2019

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rjay said:
Following- Kristine lives in my city.

Likely they came to Waterloo for the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics...
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/17/police-say-she-abandoned-her-adopted-daughter-she-says-girl-was-actually-scamming-adult-sociopath/?outputType=amp


“Though JB still lives in Canada, where he is pursuing a PhD in quantum gravity at the Perimeter Institute, both MB and KB have moved back to Indianapolis.”

Edit: changed names to initials
 
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gitana1 said:
Possible Timeline:

2008 - child is brought here from Ukraine through an adoption process.

2008 - Doctors estimate her age as 8 years old.

2010- child is adopted by the Barnetts. Not sure what happened to the first adoption.

2012 - skeletal survey shows child's age to be 11. (This matches with the first doctor finding)

2012 - Barnetts legally change the child's age to 22 in a probate court process. (How they acquired evidence for this change we do not know).

2013 - 4-9-13 The Spark memoir is published. (There is apparently no mention of the adopted daughter in the book but I have no idea what time range it spans). Mother immediately starts and intensive publicity tour.

2013 - in July, the Barnetts rent an apartment in Laffayette for the child and leave her there. They pay the rent on the place but it's not sure for how long? It seems like through 2016.

2014 - the Barnetts divorce.

2016 - 2-28-16, kid moves out of the county.

2016- @3-13-16, another person or persons apply to be her guardian.
The Barnetts object to the petition citing an age issue.

2018 - the people who filed the petition for guardianship withdraw their petition. (Note the child would be 17 or 18 by then so maybe no need).
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Parenting Author & Husband Accused of Changing Daughter's Age from 8 to 22, Moving Countries Without Her
In this article, it says she was enrolled in a tuition-free highchool for adults (date unknown), but could explain the need to change her age?
 
gitana1 said:
They had to either find a doctor who was willing to change the age, get a statement from her or an outside source from the Ukraine and/or falsify documents.

If they're telling the truth about her age I have a feeling they were in on any scam to pretend she was younger.

There is a reason they paid for that apartment.
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That’s what I thought too. So they could say she was a super genius for her age. That’s way out there but this case already is, isn’t it?!
 
DD8 said:
This one really has me speechless. So bizarre!
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Yes, it is bizarre. It seems that they may have had her in their home for up to two years before they adopted her. Surely if they didn't want her, they wouldn't have taken the legal step.

Did the suspects think that the child/woman they adopted had a wealthy heritage, influential connects, something desirable apart from herself? What could possibly motivate them to adopt her and then abandon her, but also object to anyone else becoming her guardians?

I wonder if we will ever find out.

"Though charges were filed Wednesday, neither of the Barnetts has been booked or arraigned. Court records don’t indicate if either has an attorney. And authorities have hinted that there could be even more strange details to come." https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...s-girl-was-actually-scamming-adult-sociopath/
 
Medstudies said:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/17/police-say-she-abandoned-her-adopted-daughter-she-says-girl-was-actually-scamming-adult-sociopath/?outputType=amp


“Though JB still lives in Canada, where he is pursuing a PhD in quantum gravity at the Perimeter Institute, both MB and KB have moved back to Indianapolis.”

Edit: changed names to initials
Click to expand...

Her FB states she is still living in Waterloo. I did read somewhere that only the Husband returned to the US after the divorce. (Sorry can’t find a link)

EDIT:
It’s in her FB post Sept.14 “...living in Canada”
 
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musicaljoke said:
Yes, it is bizarre. It seems that they may have had her in their home for up to two years before they adopted her. Surely if they didn't want her, they wouldn't have taken the legal step.

Did the suspects think that the child/woman they adopted had a wealthy heritage, influential connects, something desirable apart from herself? What could possibly motivate them to adopt her and then abandon her, but also object to anyone else becoming her guardians?

I wonder if we will ever find out.

"Though charges were filed Wednesday, neither of the Barnetts has been booked or arraigned. Court records don’t indicate if either has an attorney. And authorities have hinted that there could be even more strange details to come." https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...s-girl-was-actually-scamming-adult-sociopath/
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More strange details to come...I won't doubt that
 
rjay said:
Her FB states she is still living in Waterloo. I did read somewhere that only the Husband returned to the US after the divorce. (Sorry can’t find a link)

EDIT:
It’s in her FB post Sept.14 “...living in Canada”
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New evidence raises more questions in bizarre child neglect case

“While the court documents filed this week state Kristine lives near 16th Street and Post Road, she told News 8 she’s still living in Canada.”

Ha! Who knows? I’m not sure which source is more trustworthy?

There are several other new (to me) tidbits in the above news article such as:
“We’ve also uncovered one final twist.

The neglect charges state Michael and Kristine continued to pay rent for the girl in Lafayette. But according to other court documents, she was evicted for not paying rent in May 2014 and left no forwarding address to pay the judgement and court costs.”
 
imstilla.grandma said:
She had travelled from Ukraine to the rolling hills and cornfields of Indiana, only to wind up on her own in a strange city. When police checked in with the girl in September 2014, it had been more than a year since she had seen or heard from her adoptive parents, who had changed her age from 11 to 22 on official documents and rented her an apartment before moving to Canada and leaving her behind.

That was only the start of the bizarre criminal case enveloping Michael and Kristine Barnett, who last week were charged with felony neglect.

According to local media outlets, the couple, who have since divorced, haven't denied abandoning the girl just a little more than two years after they adopted her. But they disagree about whether she actually was a child - or an adult pretending to be one.

Authorities have said that the girl suffers from a rare bone growth disorder that results in dwarfism. But Kristine Barnett, 45, told WISH-TV that even using the term "girl" to describe her was inaccurate. She told the station that the adoption was a "scam" and that the girl was a diagnosed psychopath and sociopath, who had been an adult the entire time they knew her.
Girl's age changed from 11 to 22 before she was allegedly abandoned in rented apartment
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If you are a responsible person why would you hide her in an apartment? If she was conning you that would be a crime. That is something you would at least take up with the adoption agency.
 
cherrymeg said:
If you are a responsible person why would you hide her in an apartment? If she was conning you that would be a crime. That is something you would at least take up with the adoption agency.
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Do we know they didn't? This case really is nuts. I would think they'd report conning to someone. But I also can't fathom people just leaving an 8 yo behind in an apartment indefinitely if they really thought she was 8. And if she was 8 how in the world did they con a judge into letting them change her legal age? And even if they paid rent how did an 8 yo actually survive on her own? There is a lot more to taking care of yourself once rent is paid.
 
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