US adoptive mother says she is not guilty of cruel treatment of Russian boy

LOS ANGELES, January 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Jessica Bigley from Anchorage, Alaska, the adoptive mother of a Russian boy, says she is not guilty of cruel treatment of the child.

Her lawyer said on Friday she did nothing punishable under the child abuse law. The lawyer made the statement at the pretrial hearing at the Anchorage court.

Bigley said in a TV show in late December that she was straightening her disobedient child with pouring cold water over him and mouth washing with hot pepper sauce. The boy was eventually identified as Daniil Bukharov adopted by a U.S. couple in Magadan. Apart from Daniil and his twin brother Oleg, the Mormon family has another four children.

The lawyer said no one would have uttered a word if not for the Dr. Phil Show. Some think it is bad to spank a child, but she did not do even that, he remarked. The adoptive mother did not attend the hearing, and the lawyer was her representative. He stressed that the ‘straightening methods’ did not hurt Daniil.

The Anchorage police were informed about the situation on November 17, 2010. An investigation was held, and detectives saw the video-clip in which Jessica was shouting at the boy and he was crying of pain. The detectives also questioned Jessica, her husband and the six children. Prosecutors have no doubt that the cruel treatment charge is founded.

By Anchorage laws, this is an administrative offense punished with up to one year in custody or a fine of $10,000.

The Russian consulate general in Seattle, Washington, is controlling the investigation of a new case of violence upon a Russian child in the United States.

The new case of U.S. adoptive parents’ violence upon a Russian child accentuates the need for the immediate signing of an adoptions treaty with the United States, Russian Children’s Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said in comment on the situation of seven-year-old Daniil Bukharov from Magadan.

“Russia is unable to control the position of adopted children without that treaty. Four rounds of negotiations were held, and the draft agreement is being coordinated at Russian and U.S. departments. All the disagreements have been settled, and now we have to handle technical formalities. Hopefully, the treaty will be signed soon and we will protect Russian children in the case of abuse,” he said.

Otherwise, “Russia will have to consider the suspension in the adoption of its children by U.S. families or even the full ban on such practice,” Astakhov said.

“This is a case of harsh treatment of a child, not a way of strict upbringing the adoptive mother claims,” Astakhov said on the Vesti FM radio. “Urgent measures must be taken to protect the small Russian citizen who has found himself in a difficult situation. He must be protected from harsh treatment,” the ombudsman said. “Such treatment of a child must be described as torture and punished by U.S., Russian and international laws,” he noted.

Astakhov said that his office and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were coordinating efforts in the assistance to Daniil Bukharov. “The Russian consul general in the United States is visiting the hometown of the adoptive family by the minister’s instruction to provide legal and other assistance to the boy,” he said.

According to the consulate general in Seattle, it is necessary to find out whether Daniil, his twin brother and other children are satisfied with their life in the Bigley family, a consulate representative told Itar-Tass.

The Russian Children’s Rights Ombudsman Office applied to the U.S. authorities for the immediate protection of the boy and the prevention of further risks to his health and life, Astakhov said. If the culpability of the adoptive parents is proven, it will be necessary to ensure the return of the Bukharov brothers to Russia, he noted.

Astakhnov ordered Magadan Regional Children’s Rights Ombudsman Nikolai Zhukov to verify the lawfulness of the adoption of Daniil.

“Seventy-five percent of children adopted in the Magadan region go to foreign families, while Russia’s average rate is around 30%,” he said. “Seventeen children adopted by U.S. families have died,” he added.

“Some 80,000 Russian children have been adopted by foreign families in recent years. The United States leads by the number of children adopted from Russia,” State Secretary – Deputy Education and Science Minister Yuri Sentyurin said earlier. “However, adopted children encounter a number of problems. Some of the foreign parents are simply not ready for the enlargement of their families.”

Thus, the inter-country adoption agreement will add an element of stability, he said. “For instance, the agreement will help regulate and control the activity of adoption intermediaries,” he noted.

U.S. Consul General in Moscow Richard Beer called for stricter control over families that adopt children. He also said that the agreement must correspond to the laws of the United States and Russia. The U.S. is very much interested in signing this agreement, but it will take some time to elaborate it, he said.

“The new agreement will be a legally binding document ensuring control over the security of children,” according to head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s U.S. desk Alexander Zakharov.

A total of 3,800 Russian children were adopted by foreigners in 2009, including 1,432 in the United States. At the same time, the number of foreigners wishing to adopt children from Russia dropped by 60% in the past six years, and the number of Russian families wishing to adopt a child grew by 27%. No information for 2010 is available as yet.

The Family Code defines an inter-country adoption as a temporary measure for children who cannot be adopted in Russia. Inter-country adoption is possible exclusively on the basis of bilateral treaties.

According to Education and Science Ministry department director Alina Levitskaya, U.S. citizens have adopted about 50,000 Russian children in the past 20 years.

The problem came to the forefront after a U.S. foster mother returned a seven-year-old boy to Russia. The President Barack Obama administration said they shared the indignation of Russians over several deaths of Russian children adopted by U.S. adoptive and the latest refusal of adoptive mother Torry Hansen from seven-year-old Artyom Savelyev. The woman put the unaccompanied boy on the plane to Russia.

The Department of State said though that it did not want a moratorium on the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens because it could have a negative effect on parentless children.