NOTE TO AL NEUHARTH: CASEY ANTHONY IS NOT A "BIRTH MOTHER" OR WHY LANGUAGE COUNTS

NOTE: I'm not here to argue which de jour term is appropriate, but to discuss how the misuse of language in a recent op-ed piece in USA Today can negatively affect public perception.

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Al Neuharth posted a really annoying blog in Friday's USA Today. (The media mogul is founder of the paper). In Little Caylee's legacy: No child unwanted, Neuharth argues that the Caylee Anthony case "should help us focus on two prime human problems in our society:

• unwanted children by women who get pregnant by mistake

• wanted children by women who can't get pregnant

Unless some new evidence develops, it's apparent that Casey Anthony was a lousy mother. At best she's stupid or crazy. At worst, evil. The press has widely reported that she wanted to put Caylee up for adoption and was pressured by her mother, Cindy Anthony, to keep her. For the record I believe that motherhood should be consensual and no woman should be forced, coerced, or pressured to either carry to term or to keep or not keep a child after it is born. The decision should be her responsibility and hers alone.

What annoyed me about Neharth's piece was not so much the expected and irrelevant kneejerk adoption argument, but his unfettered misuse of the word "birth mother," as in:

Her birth mother, 22-year old Casey Anthony, is in jail, charged with murdering her little girl.

Through HAL, those birth mothers are given educational, financial, legal and medical help.

When Caylee's birth mother decided she didn't want or couldn't care for her baby state and/or federal help should have been readily available for aid in adoption

Anybody who knows anything about adoption knows what a "birth mother" is, whether they approve of the term or not. An easy definition is found in Longman's Online English Dictionary:

a child's natural mother, rather than a woman who has become the child's legal mother through adoption.

The parental rights of Casey Anthony were never terminated. Caylee Anthony was never placed for adoption or adopted; therefore, Casey Anthony is not a "birth mother."

Well, so what?

Here's what:

For some reason in the last few years "birth mother" has devolved from a specific socio-poliltical definition regarding child surrender to a mushy catch phrase used by the media and general public to designate any woman who gives birth. I see the term all the time outside of adoption, and am always taken aback when some prominent woman refers to herself as a "birth mother of four" when she obviously is not talking about her misspent life previous to becoming Mrs. Somebody.

Neuharth isn't the first journalist to misuse "birth mother," and he won't be the last. But unlike most reporters, he can't play dumb, which is why I'm not giving him a pass. He and third wife, Dr. Rachel Fornes (couple on the left) have transracially adopted six children between the ages of 8 and 17. He is also father of two adult sons from his first marriage and the alleged father of the unacknowledged Rosamunda Neuharth-Ozgo, 45, who claimed in a 1987 book written with her mother, that her birth certificate lists Newharth as her father and that he sent her $100/mo until she was 21. (Here and here.) Fornes founded the not-for profit adoption agency Home at Last located in Cocoa Beach, FL. and she is a former board member of the National Council for Adoption.

Women--aka "good mothers birth mothers"--caught in the adoption spammer are praised by self-soothing politicians and win-win-win adoptionists for "doing the right thing" which to them can mean anything from carrying to term, forgoing the "option" of dropping the baby in the dumpster behind the mall, or letting the worthy take her bundle of trouble off her hands. Later, these "good mothers" are vilified by now cringing politicians and their anti-adoptee fellow travelers who fear their toxic visage especially (but not limited to) when bastards stalk the marble halls of the state demanding their records and identities. Without saying, "birth mothers good mothers" who show their Cruella de Vil faces at the statehouse, except to thank the bountiful state for the opportunity to "move on" from their disreputable pasts, are fortunate if they're not booted out the door with a Scarlet A stamped on their bottoms.

By referring repeatedly to Casey Anthony as a "birth mother," Neuharth, promotes an ugly political stereotype of women who have willingly or unwillingly surrendered a child to the adoption mill: cold uncaring women who if given their druthers will abuse, abandon, and kill were it not for the adoption industry's ready rescue.

Neuharth's designation of Casey Anthony as a "birth mother" may seem like a semantic quibble in the greater scheme of this horrible case, but it's a big deal for those of us affected by adoption.

Neuharth has long supported abortion rights and the female autonomy those rights presume. Yet, by linking "birth mothers" (and the social concept of them, no matter what other term is used) to the likes of Casey Anthony, he perpetuates "birth mother" phobia, which has real political consequences for real adoptees stripped of their identity by the state, and real natural mothers stripped mined of their children. By linking Casey Anthony to "birth mothers" Neuharth is embedding deeper stigma and fear in the public and political psyche making our identity rights more difficult to restore and defaming the faux praised "good mother birth mother" in the process.

Neuharth's piece is on the wire now and may show up in your local newspaper, though possibly under a different headline. You can comment on it at the USA Today link above.

ZUM ZUM ZUM: FRENCH NOTRE ROCKER NATIONAL JOHNNY HALLYDAY AND WIFE ADOPT SECOND VIETNAMESE BABY

Vu Doc Long, head of Vietnam's International Adoptions Agency has announced that French rock icon and notre rocker national Johnny Hallyday, 65, and his 5th wife, Laeticia Baudou, 37, have adopted a second Vietnamese child. The government declined further information such as the name and age of the girl or the name and location of the orphanage. An unidentified source said the girl was from a social welfare center in northern Vietnam.

No speculation yet on if strings were pulled to get this adoption going, though it's reported the couple visited the French embassy on Christmas Eve.

In 2004, the Hallydays adopted Jade, 3 months old, from the Thanh Ba orphanage 40 miles northwest of Hanoi. That adoption caused a stir in France where the Hallydays were accused of line jumping about 350 waiting couples when Bernadette Chirac, wife of then French president Jacques Chirac, reportedly whispered the magic word "celebrity" in the ear of Vietnamese authorities.

The adoption was clearly fast-tracked. Jade was adopted and home in Gstaad 6 weeks after she was reportedly abandoned at the orphanage. In an interview with the magazine VDS, Baudou skirted around the fast-track. She denied the couple had been given special treatment and said they'd gone through the "usual nine months of checks by French social services including five home visits...," but then claimed that Mme Chirac had raised the case for all waiting couples, not just theirs. "She may have speeded things up for us but those other, unknown families will also benefit from her stepping on the accelerator." Baudou said she'd had tried to get pregnant for nine years and the adoption was well thought out.

At the time of Jade's adoption, the French government suspended adoptions from Cambodia due to allegations of child trafficking. One pap, protesting the block on his nearly completed adoption, went on a prolonged hunger strike. He wrote President Chirac : "Bernadette Chirac helped Johnny Hallyday and Laeticia adopt a child in Vietnam. Why not us?"

I was in France at the height of Hallayday's fame. The guy was everywhere. I mean, he was on the front page of every paper. Johnny Hallyday all day every day. At that time he was married to his first wife, ye ye girl, Sylvie Vartan. They were known as rock n roll's "golden couple."

Hallyday and Vartan had one son, David now 42. who has three children of his own, 10, 13, and another born around the the time Jade was being adopted.

I can't comment on the legality or ethics of this adoption. I just don't know. But, there's no fool like an old fool. Just ask Paul McCartney. What is Johnny thinking? It's gotta be a wife thing.

Speaking of wives, here is Sylvie Vartan's Zum Zum Zum which is what Hallyday has to look forward to in his golden years x 2.

NEBRASKA: FR. FLANAGAN "DOWNRIGHT GIDDY!"

Catching up on today's abandoned babies stories, I found Police search for abandoned infant's mom in today's Chicago Sun-Times, a follow-up on a newborn recently discovered in the unheated vestibule of an Uptown apartment building. Thankfully, the baby is doing fine.

But at the very bottom of the article under "Related Blogs"this gem, dated November 17, 2008 is linked to the story courtesy of Carbolic Smoke Blog: Number of children abandoned under Nebraska's safe haven law jumps from 34 to 852 when Father Flanagan drops off orphans from Boys Town at local hospital.

Witnesses say Flanagan was “downright giddy,” rubbing his hands together and laughing. He told befuddled hospital workers that “the kids are your responsibility now. It was either this or bankruptcy, so they boys had to go. This will give me a chance to reorganize and turn Boys Town into something profitable, like a Walgreens.

I'll have some genuine good news from the Nebraska Fiasco up this weekend.

MERRY CHRISTMAS...

If you are looking for information on the Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison case and other Russian adoption news, please scroll down to previous blogs

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For those who remember the days of gracious living:

COUNTDOWN MAINE!

If you are looking for information on the Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison case and other Russian adoption news, please scroll down to previous blogs

*****

Just a few more days and Maine joins the charmed circle of free states: Alaska, Alabama, Kansas, New Hampshire and Oregon that allows full and unrestricted access to all adoptees of their original birth certificates.

Here is a press release from OBC for ME about the grand records opening and surrounding events.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contacts:

Bobbi Beavers
Co-founder, OBC for ME
South Berwick, ME
207-748-3432
rbbeavers@comcast.net
www.OBCforME.org

Cathy Robishaw
Co-founder, OBC for ME
Falmouth, ME
207-671-1375
tmc3910@yahoo.com
www.OBCforME.org


New Law Affects Maine Adoptees

Maine has restored a basic human right to all Maine-born adult adoptees – the right to know their identity at birth! Just as New Hampshire, Alabama and Oregon legislatures have done in the past 12 years, the 123rd Maine Legislature made the decision in June 2007, via LD 1084, to correct an injustice the Maine Legislature enacted in 1953 when they declared that the original birth and adoption records of adoptees were to be sealed upon adoption of any child after August 8th of that year and leaving adoptees access to their original identity only at the discretion of the courts and only if adoptees knew this fact, which is buried in the cumbersome adoption laws.

Excitement is building as over 130 Maine-born adoptees from around Maine, plus New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Florida, California and other states have already submitted their info to the Maine Office of Vital Statistics. Many, including those living out-of-state, are coming to Augusta to request their Original birth Certificate on January 2, 2009.

Maine LD 1084/Public Law 409 – An Act to Allow Adult Adoptees Access to their Original Birth Certificates (OBC) - goes into effect January 1, 2009. Any Maine-born adult adoptee wishing to receive an uncertified copy of their original birth certificate in-person on January 2, 2009 at the Office of Vital Statistics in Augusta, must contact Lorraine Wilson immediately at the following address, email, or phone and provide her with the information (below) she will need to locate their records:

Lorraine Wilson
Deputy Registrar
Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics
Division of Public Health Systems
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Maine Department of Health and Human Services 244 Water Street 11 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333-0011
(207) 287-3181
1-888-664-9491 (toll free)
Lorraine.Wilson@maine.gov

The adoptee information needed:

* Name after adoption, Date of birth, Town of birth (if known)
* The relationship of the requestor to the adoptee (i.e., same person, son, daughter, etc.)
* Contact information of the requestor


In order to receive a copy of his/her original birth certificate on January 2, 2009, an adoptee will still need to download the official state application form from this website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/bohodr/documents/Application%20for%20Adult%20Adoptee.pdf. The adoptee must also bring (or mail if not coming in-person) the filled out and notarized form, a certified copy of their current birth certificate, and a $10 check made out to: Treasurer - State of Maine.

Parents of origin (also called birth parents) may also NOW submit information, confidentially, to Lorraine Wilson:

* Contact Preference Form, which is downloadable from this website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/bohodr/documents/Contact%20Preference%20form.pdf.

* Birth Parent Updated Medical History Form, which is downloadable from this website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/bohodr/documents/Medical%20History.pdf.


Everyone impacted by this law should read the rules compiled by the Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics (Maine Center for Disease Control, DHHS), downloadable at this website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/_rules_documents/Adult%20Adoptees%20Access%20to%20Original%20Birth%20Certificate.pdf.

REASONS FOR SUBMITTING THIS INFO EARLY: If an adoptee applies for the first time on January 2, 2009, it is very likely they will not get the uncertified copy of their original birth certificate that day. If birth parents have filled out their forms, adoptees will have updated medical info and possibly a current contact name and address that will expedite searching if that is what an adoptee chooses to do.

ISSUES TO BE AWARE OF:

* Adoptees who obtain their OBC before a birth parent has submitted their forms will be able to request that DHHS send them the birth parent contact preference and medical history forms.
* In about 80-90% of the cases, the birth fathers name will not be on the birth certificate (DNA testing has not been available until relatively recently and birth fathers were not always required to be part of the surrendering process as they are now), unless the couple was married.
* Medical, genealogical and cultural histories are important to many individuals, yet for others, just having the document (“the deed to my person,” as adoptee Robert Hafetz says) will be sufficient at this time.
* To help people impacted by this law to work through the emotional roller coaster that this information may stimulate, OBC for ME has two adoption triad support group formats: ONLINE at this website - http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/obcformesupport/ which requires a prior free Yahoo registration, and IN-PERSON with the next meeting on January 17, 2009, at Norway Savings Bank Community Room, Route 1 South, Falmouth, ME, 10 AM - Noon. There are also support groups in just about every state, province and country on this continent as well as in most overseas countries.


A private reception for adoptees and their families will be held at the Augusta EconoLodge at 5 PM on January 2, 2009. For more information contact Bobbi Beavers, rbbeavers@comcast.net

OBC for ME

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

If you are looking for information on the Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison case and other Russian adoption news, please scroll down to previous blogs.




Curried Sweet Potato Latkes

* 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
* 2 teaspoons curry powder
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup milk (approximately)
* Peanut oil for frying

Grate the sweet potatoes coarsely. In a separate bowl mix the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cayenne pepper, curry powder, cumin, and salt and pepper. Add the eggs and just enough milk to the dry ingredients to make a stiff batter. Add the potatoes and mix. The batter should be moist but not runny; if too stiff, add more milk.

Heat 1/4 inch of peanut oil in a frying pan until it is barely smoking. Drop in the batter by tablespoons and flatten. Fry over medium-high heat several minutes on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Makes 16 three-inch pancakes.

This and more recipies are here.

THE RUSSIAN ADOPTED DEAD: A REVIEW OF KILLERS AND SENTENCES

NOTE: Please go to Nykto Ne Zabyt for a dedicated page for all my entries on Russian adoption. This collection includes posts on all known Russian adoptees who have been killed by their US "forever families," as well as the case of Masha Allen. Go to "labels" on that blog's sidebar for individual cases. Russian language readers can translate the entire page with the Google Russian translator at the top of the page. Reverso translator is right below it for Russian and other languages.

The acquittal of Miles Harrison does not reside in a vacuum. Since 1996, 14 other Russian children have died at the hands of their forever families. Except for Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison, all were victims of physical abuse, starvation, and systematic torture by adults who were judged by the US adoption industry and the US and Russian governments to be fit to adopt someone elses children. The Polreis case attracted national attention, but most cases have rarely gotten more than a few lines. The Russian press has covered some, but not all of the cases, and covered the Harrison case extensively.

Below is a summary of the legal outcomes of each case. These summaries are taken from the larger account of each case found at my Forever Family, Forever Dead blog entry. There are also many links to these cases in the larger summary. Outside of Peggy Sue Hilt and Gary Thompson, the sentences have been relatively short and many of the forever parents are now on the street. I have no idea what the average sentence is for killing your child. I do know there is great disparity not only amongst states but amongst jurisdiction for killing children, so I can't say that these bad sentences reflect a general trend or are just what they are. Whatever, it is shocking to see that monsters like Robert and Brenda Matthey are out and about and Heather Lindorff will be walking the streets soon. Her husband, however, recently made checked into the Gray Bar Hotel himself after he was convicted of trying to hire a hitman to kill a witness in the family's earlier trial. (More on that later in a different entry).

This entry is a backgrounder for my own future writings and is also intended as a guide to domestic and international media that has been hitting this page. I'll have a handy-dandy chart of the cases up on a webpage (I hope) in a couple days.

When pictures of the dead children are available, I have included them here. Pictures of the forever parents, whenever available are placed below "Outcome."

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DAVID POLREIS, JR, (birth name unknown) age 2, Greeley, Colorado. Died February 9, 1996; beaten and cut over 90% of his body.

OUTCOME: Adoptive mother Renee Polreis was convicted of child abuse resulting in death and sentenced to 18 years in prison. In 2000 her sentence was reduced; she was paroled in 2005.

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LOGAN HIGGINBOTHAM (birth name known) age 3, Shelburne, Vermont. Died November 25, 1998 of massive head injuries. The medical examiner was unable to determine if death was an accident or homicide. Three years later police reopened the case with other medical experts and concluded that Logan's head had been intentionally slammed into a wall.

OUTCOME: In 2004, Laura Higginbotham pled no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 1 year in prison. She will remain on parole until her older daughter, Layne also adopted from Russia is 18.

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VIKTOR MATTHEY, born Viktor Sergeivich Tulimov, age 6, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Died October 31, 2000 of cardiac arrest due to hypothermia after adoptive parents Robert and Brenda Matthey locked him overnight in a damp unheated pump room; also suffered over 40 cuts, scrapes, bruises and untreated fractures. Robert Matthey admitted beating Viktor with an aluminum baseball bat, a belt, 2 whips, and his open hand.

OUTCOME: Jury acquitted the couple on evidence tampering charges; deadlocked on manslaughter charges, but convicted them of lesser abuse. Both sentenced to 10 years in prison for confining Viktor to the pump room, 10 years for inflicting excessive corporal punishment and 7 years for failing to provide medical care. The sentences were to run concurrently. Brenda Matthey was released from prison on November 1, 2008. Robert Matthey was released on November 7, 2008.

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LUKE EVANS, (birth name unknown) age 1.5, Lowell, Indiana. Died November 30, 2001 of massive head injuries, shaken baby syndrome, and poor nutrition.

OUTCOME: On June 30, 2006 Natalie Fabian Evans was found not guilty of murder, battery and neglect of a dependent after a doctor for the defense convinced a jury that Luke could have had "bleeding in his brain for days prior to the day" he was found unresponsive in his crib.

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JACOB LINDORFF, (birth name unknown) age 5, Gloucester Twp., New Jersey. Died December 14, 2001 of blunt force trauma to head. Also suffered from 2nd degree burns on feet, hemorrhaging in 1 eye; bruises, and seizures.

OUTCOME: Adoptive mother Heather Lindorff, 36, was found guilty of 2nd degree endangering, aggravated assault. She sentenced to 6 years. She claimed the injuries were accidents and begged judge not to separate her from her family. Adoptive father, James, 54, sentenced to 4 years probation and 400 hours of community service for child abuse. In May 2004, Heather Lindorff was released on appeal bond and ordered not to visit her children without supervision. That same month DYFS learned that children were back living with the Lindorffs. Medical examinations found four children were malnourished, abused, and neglected. Heather Lindorff is serving out her sentence and will be released no later than June 2010. In September 2007, James Lindorff and Mildred Cullinan were charged in a murder-for-hire plot to kill a witness at the Lindorff trial. On August 7, 2008 James Lindorff was convicted and sentenced to a maximum of 7 years with a minimum term of 5 years 11 months and 12 days. His mother-in-law Mildred Cullinan pled down to a charge of hindering an investigation and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

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JESSICA ALBINA HAGMANN (birth name unknown) age 2 years, 7 months, Prince William County, Virginia. Died August 11, 2003 of mechanical asphyxia due to compression against an adult: lack of blood and oxygen possibly due to "holding therapy"performed by her adoptive mother Patrice Lynne Hagmann.

OUTCOME: In December 2003 Patrice Hagmann took an Alford plea ( pleading no contest, without acknowledging guilt). Prosecutors recommended 14 years in prison, In January 2004 the court sentenced her to five years for each charge, suspended dependent on five years probation.

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ZACHARY HIGIER (born Nikita Khoryakovont), age 2, Braintree, Massachusetts. Died August 15, 2002 of severe trauma to the head. Jacob had a bilateral skull fracture, a massive stroke on the right side of his brain, a smaller stroke on left side, brain swelling and detached retinas.

OUTCOME:Adoptive mother Natalya Higier pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail, with 18 months balance of sentence suspended for 4 years; also required to attend anger management classes.

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MARIA ANASTASIA BENNETT, (birth name unknown) age 2, (left) Lancaster, Ohio. Died October 23, 2002 of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Medical evidence indicated fatal head wounds and eye injuries could not be caused by such a drop.

OUTCOME: Bennett pled no contest to 1 count of reckless homicide. She originally faced 8 years in prison. Prosecutors recommended 4 years, but said they would not oppose probation after 2 years served. Bennett was sentenced to 3 years.

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LIAM DMITRY THOMPSON, born, Dmitry Sergeyevich Ishlankulov, age 3, Galloway, Ohio. Died October 16, 2003 at Columbus Doctors Hospital West of scalding and neglect. Five days earlier, adoptive father, Gary Allen Thompson, put Liam in a bathtub of 140 degree water causing 2nd and 3rd degree burns; skin peeled off legs. Instead of seeking treatment Thompson put him on a crib mattress in an unheated basement. Adoptive mother, LPN Amy Lynn Thompson, whose diary revealed she didn't like Liam or his adopted sister, failed to notice the seriousness of burns for 2 days, then treated him with Tylenol and Vaseline. Liam was taken to the hospital only when he went into respitory failure. Autopsy revealed severe burns on both legs, right arm, back, and buttocks; bruises on neck, right side of upper lip, right eye, both cheeks and forehead. The official cause of death is listed as "thermal injuries."

OUTCOME: Amy Thompson pled guilty to child endangering and involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. She is currently incarcerated in the Marysville Reformatory for Women.

Gary Thompson pled guilty to murder and was sentenced to 15-life.

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ALEX PAVLIS, born Alex Geiko, age 6, Schaumburg, Illinois. Died December 19, 2003 of severe beating. Adoptive mother Irma Pavlis admitted to punching Alex hard in the stomach and slapping him.






OUTCOME: Irma Pavlis sentenced to 12 years for involuntary manslaughter. She was paroled on Marach 28, 2008 and resides out of state. She is scheduled to be released from parole on March 29, 2009.

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DENNIS GENE MERRYMAN, born Denis Uritsky, age 8, Harford County, Maryland. Died January 22, 2005 of cardiac arrest brought on by starvation; weighed 37 pounds, 2 pounds less than when doctors examined him in October 2000. Medical examiner could find no underlying conditions and ruled death a homicide.




OUTCOME: On April 17, 2008, adoptive parents Samuel and Donna Merryman On April 17, 2008 they were each sentenced to 22 years in prison.

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NINA HILT, born Viktoria Bazhenova, age 2.5, Wake Forest, North Carolina. Died July 2, 2005 on visit to Manassas, Virginia from blows to the abdominal area. Adoptive mother, Peggy Sue Hilt, 33, told investigators she was "enraged and angered" at Nina, shook her, dropped her on floor, kicked her in the stomach, then picked her up, put her in bed and continued to strike her with a closed right fist on her back and stomach


OUTCOME: On May 25, 2006, Hilt was sentenced to 35 years in prison with 10 years suspended; will serve 21-22 years due to time served awaiting trial.

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ISSAC JONATHAN DYKSTRA, (birth name unknown), age 21 months, Iowa City. Died August 14, 2005 , the day after he was hospitalized for injuries reportedly incurred from an accidental fall a few days earlier. On August 7, 2008, after a nearly 3-year investigation, adoptive father, Brian Dykstra, 31, was charged with 2^nd degree murder.







OUTCOME: Dykstra released on bond; trial pending.

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NICOLI (KOLYA) EMELYANTSEV, (birth name unknown) age 14 months, Tooele, Utah. Died March 7, 2008 from a "significant skull fracture" caused by blunt force trauma. Adoptive mother, Kimberly Emelyantsev 33, charged with murder. During her post-conviction psychiatric evaluation she admitted grabbing Kolya by an arm and leg and repeatedly slamming him in the floor. Kolya suffered from Down Syndrome.





OUTCOME: Kimberley Emelyantsev, pled guilty to a lowered charge of 2nd degree felony child abuse homicide. On October 10, 2008 she was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

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CHASE HARRISON, born Dmitry Alexandrivich Yakolev, age 21 months, Purcellville, Virgina. Died July 8, 2008 in Herndon, Virginia after adoptive father Miles Harrison, 49, left him in SUV for nine hours in up to 91 degree heat. Temperature inside anywhere between 131-172,.





OUTCOME: On December 18, 2008 Miles Harrison was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in a bench trial.

WINTER SOLSTICE

If you are looking for information on the Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison case, please scroll down.

"You darkness, that I come from,
I love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes
a circle of light for everyone,
and then no one outside learns of you.

But the darkness pulls in everything;
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them!—
powers and people—
and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me.
I have faith in nights."
- Rainer Maria Rilke, On Darkness

DMITRY YAKOLEV/CHASE HARRISON: A FEW WEEKEND UPDATES

NOTE: Please go to Nykto Ne Zabyt for a dedicated page for all my entries on Russian adoption. This collection includes posts on all known Russian adoptees who have been killed by their US "forever families," as well as the case of Masha Allen. Go to "labels" on that blog's sidebar for individual cases. Russian language readers can translate the entire page with the Google Russian translator at the top of the page. Reverso translator is right below it for Russian and other languages. I especially want to thank the hundreds of Russian-language readers who are reading Bastardette and Nikto Ne Zabyt regarding Dima. . Thank you very much for your friendship and support and caring about adopted Russia's adopted children in the US.

******

MORE RUSSIAN REACTION
I still can find no official statement regarding the Harrison verdict on the Russian Embassy or the Foreign Ministry pages.

A press release from the Ministry of Education and Science is now on the ministry's English-language page:

Excerpt:
The justificatory verdict casts doubt on effectiveness and reliability of the protection of adopted children's rights system in the USA and will result in toughening the requirements to Russian children's adoption by USA citizens. We must be sure that our children's rights are entirely protected in this country; and if a tragic incident happens, even because of an action by accident, severe punishment will be inevitable", - stressed A. Levitskaya.

WUVR: Voice of Russia Broadcasting (English)
December 18, 2008 (English)
US Adoption System in Need of Review

Excerpt:
The Virginia Court’s decision went virtually unnoticed in the US media, but it was give high prominence in Russia’s media which overwhelmingly deplored the court’s ruling... This horrible case prompts obvious questions. How could a grow-up person believed to be in his right mind could be so careless as to leave an infant in mortal danger even for a minute? And if the man isn’t in his right mind, how was it possible for his family to adopt a child in the first place?

Russia Today (English)
December 18, 2008
Moscow outraged over adopted Russian boy manslaughter

Excerpt:
Russian Foreign Ministry says it's outraged by the decision to clear Miles Harrison, who left the baby in a car during blazing summer heat.

Due to spacing problems, I am posting the English-language video news report that goes with this article at the bottom of this entry.

MORE AMERICAN RESPONSE
Over at the Washington Post there's a civilized discussion about Marc Fisher's column Why Was Father of Who Killed Son in Car Acquitted? AND a survey on the verdict. As I write this, only 51% disagree with Judge Ney and the acquittal.

Excerpt:
As much as the father has suffered, and as much as he proved in court that he truly did love and adore that boy, Judge Terrence Ney's decision unjustly fails to hold Harrison accountable for his negligence. Just because someone who does wrong feels terribly about his misdeed does not absolve the justice system of its responsibility to hold all of us to a standard of decent behavior... and

It's hard for me to see how anyone, parent or not, could conclude that leaving a child unattended for a full day in a steamy hot car--essentially forgetting about the existence of the life that you have been entrusted with protecting and cherishing--could be chalked up to accident.

One Response:
Outrageous, but not surprising. Take this scenario and change the economic circumstances of the parents to poor or working class. Or change the social characteristics to or black. There would have been a different decision. Judges don't like to punish people who they perceive as good, except for one 'mistake.' The law is interpreted favorably for the 'right' kind of people. The 'wrong' kind of people know this, which explains their low opinion of and trust in the justice system.

IT'S ABOUT ADOPTION
Finally, Baby Love Child has written a tremendously important blog on why the Harrison case IS about adoption: Dmitry's Death and Miles Harrison's Acquittal, Part II, The American Reaction. . Part 3 just went up, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

She has quoted part of it in her comment posted on my previous blog, but I want to put an excerpt here:

...the American audience fails to understand the important responsibilities an adoptive couple take on when they sign on to adopting a child. Perhaps the primary difference between a child in an adoptive situation and children born to their parents is that adoptive families are on some level (allegedly at least) vetted. They have agreed to take on the task of raising a child that is not biologically their own. They have had to prove that they will make “fit” parents to the child that will eventually come to be placed with them. When they sign the adoption papers, they have intentionally taken on the responsibility for that child. Add in the international adoption component, in the case of Russian adoptees, they retain their Russian citizenship, and what you have is essentially, an American couple that has jumped through enough hoops as to agree to take on not only raising a child who is not their own flesh and blood, but is additionally a citizen of another country. This carries with it many responsibilities, above and beyond what biological parents face. Be that reporting obligations back to the country of origin, or obligations to be attentive, and to provide safety and security. Adoptive parents sign their names to promises pertaining to the ongoing disposition and welfare of the child they are adopting.

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It is clear that Moscow isn't happy and intends to take a hard line on this judicial miscarriage. The Russian government and the media are watching and reporting on the case carefully including the apparent non-interest outside the Beltway. (Obviously, if the Harrisons had lived somewhere else and weren't Washington Somebodies, WDC wouldn't be paying much attention either. (ex: The recent Emelyantsev case in Utah). I expect to see repercussions from this American folly that go way beyond adoption. US officials have used international adoption in the past as leverage to push other countries around, but this time, they might just get a kick in the pants back.

By the way, there has been no comment from European Adoption Consultants, who handled the adoptions of Chase and Logan Higginbotham (scroll down) and who ended up dead when her forever mother cracked her skull open on a bedroom wall.l But they sure have been reading what I have to say about them.


ADDENDA: December 20, 6:30 PM: I no sooner posted this entry when a story from WJLA-TV came through, Adoptive Parents Worry After Loudon Man is Acquitted in Son's Death. It should be titled Adoption Industry and Adoptive Parents Worry... The usual ME ME ME with absolutely no comprehension of what went down at Fairfax Courthouse or a care for Dima. The article has a link to the video, which has much more impact than the written story.



Russia Today Video: