Cases involving Kristine Barnett, Michael Barnett filled with twists and turns

Update: Michael Barnett was acquitted of neglecting his adopted daughter, Natalia.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A 2012 court order changed Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian orphan, from an 8-year-old girl to a 22-year-old woman and in the process shielded her adoptive parents from legal scrutiny.

Department of Children Services couldn't investigate Natalia Grace, the adoptee with severe dwarfism, because of the court order re-aging her.

Prosecutors can't charge Natalia's adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, with neglect for abandoning a child in Lafayette in July 2013, because legally, she's not a child.

But prosecutors can charge the Barnetts with neglect of a dependent based on Natalia's disabling dwarfism.

Over the past two years, the Barnetts' cases have taken so many legal twists and turns, here's an attempt to untangle the tale before the Barnetts come trial later this year.

Previously:Natalia Barnett testifies against adoptive father in trial alleging neglect

What made this neglect case different?

To begin with, Natalia is severely crippled by dwarfism. She's an orphan from Ukraine, who was first adopted by a New Hampshire family in 2008. That adoption didn't work out, so the Barnetts adopted Natalia in 2010. The adoption was completed in November 2010, which made Natalia 7 years old at the time the Barnetts adopted her, according to her Ukrainian birth records.

A number of aspects of the tale – Natalia's dwarfism, being a European orphan, and her failure to find a forever family in the United States – brought the international media's attention when prosecutors charged Michael and Kristine Barnett in September 2011.

The now-divorced couple faced several counts of neglect of a dependent, including allegations the Barnetts abandoning their daughter in a unfamiliar city and leaving the country, according to prosecutor's allegations.

Fueling national media attention is how the allegations of child neglect contrasts from Kristine Barnett's self-promotion as a model mother, an advocate for the infirmed and a champion of child nurturing.

More: Mother, father accused of abandoning adopted daughter in Lafayette turn themselves in

Kristine Barnett wrote a book titled, "The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius."

The book's Google narrative states, "Kristine Barnett's son Jacob has an IQ higher than Einstein's, a photographic memory, and he taught himself calculus in two weeks. At nine he started working on an original theory in astrophysics that experts believe may someday put him in line for a Nobel Prize, and at age twelve he became a paid researcher in quantum physics. But the story of Kristine's journey with Jake is all the more remarkable because his extraordinary mind was almost lost to autism. At age two, when Jake was diagnosed, Kristine was told he might never be able to tie his own shoes."

The nurturing mother painted in the public persona of Kristine Barnett flies in contrast to the adoptive mother accused of changing her adopted daughter's birth year, moving her adopted daughter to Lafayette — a city in which Natalia never knew until 2013. After dropping Natalia off at a Lafayette apartment, Kristine and Michael, and their biological sons moved to Canada so then 15-yearold Jacob Barnett could begin college, according to prosecutors and public interviews by Kristine and Michael Barnett.

Two sides to every story

Prosecutors filed charges in September 2019 that accused Kristine and Michael Barnett of neglect of Natalia because of her age.

More: College in Canada is next step for Westfield boy genius Jacob Barnett, family

But both Michael and Kristine Barnett said during media interviews that essentially from the first few days of Natalia staying with them, they believed that Natalia was not a child, and they came to believe that Natalia conned them by using her dwarfism to pretend to be a child.

Her vocabulary was too developed to be a child of 7 years old, Kristine and Michael have said in interviews before the Oct. 28, 2019, gag order forced the Barnetts, their attorneys, prosecutors and anyone involved in the case from publicly commenting about the case or the people involved in the case.

The Barnetts claimed that Natalia had pubic hair and menstrual cycles when they adopted her.

Natalia appeared on the "Dr. Phil" show in November 2019 and denied having pubic hair or menstrual cycles when she was adopted.

The former Westfield couple, who filed for divorce in November 2013, claimed that Natalia threatened to kill the Barnetts and their biological sons. Kristine accused Natalia of trying to poison her coffee and pushing her into an electric fence.

Natalia told Dr. Phil – Dr. Phillip C. McGraw – that she did not try to kill or harm the family, and explained the fence incident as losing her balance while getting to her feet and falling into Kristine after the two stopped to rest on a family hike.

More: Natalia Grace tells what it was like being Michael and Kristine Barnetts' adopted daughter

Between 2010 and 2012, Natalia underwent medical and psychological evaluations at Marion County facilities at the Barnetts' request, according to court documents.

In June 2012, the Barnetts petitioned a Marion County court to change Natalia's birth year from 2003 to 1989, changing her from an 8-year-old girl three months shy of her ninth birthday to a 22-year-old woman, according to court documents.

At no time in the re-aging process did the court appoint legal counsel to represent Natalia's legal interest or present her defense against the petition.

Natalia was hospitalized in Marion County when she learned about her re-aging, according to court records.

That stroke of a judge's pen shielded the Barnetts from investigations from the Department of Child Services, because Natalia was an adult, and later shielded the Barnetts during a adult protection investigation in Lafayette.

It also shielded the Barnetts from being prosecuted for neglect of a dependent based on Natalia's age. Prosecutors are still taking the Barnetts to trial for neglect because of Natalia's dependency because of her dwarfism.

Natalia's transition to adult

The Barnetts claim in court documents that after they changed Natalia's birth year, they got her an apartment in Hamilton County, got her federal disability benefits and social services.

When Natalia's lease ended in July 2013, the Barnetts moved her to a Lafayette apartment on North 11th Street.

The Barnetts claim in court documents that they paid Natalia's rent for a year. The day she moved to Lafayette was the last time Natalia saw Kristine Barnett, and she saw Michael Barnett one additional time, according to court records.

Natalia was 9 years old when she moved into her Lafayette apartment, based on her Ukrainian birth records. Legally, through, she was 23, based on court-ordered age change.

After setting up Natalia in her Lafayette apartment, the Barnetts and their two sons moved to Canada, where Jacob began his college classes.

The legal case as presented in court

Prosecutors filed four charges of neglect of a dependent because of Natalia's age that allegedly happened before July 1, 2014. They also filed four charges of neglect of a dependent based on Natalia's age, alleging the neglect happened later than July 1, 2014.

The charges that happened before July 1, 2014, were dismissed because the statute of limitations to file charges expired.

Prosecutors alleged that the re-aging of Natalia impeded the state's investigation, and should not be counted against the statute of limitations because the Barnetts used it to conceal the alleged crimes.

Tippecanoe Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer ruled against the prosecutors in August 2020, saying the time to file charges had passed. An appeals court opinion published in August 2021 upheld Meyer's ruling.

Meyer also ruled in August 2020 that he cannot reverse the court-ordered re-aging of Natalia. As such, the four neglect of a dependent allegations after July 1, 2014, must be dismissed if the allegations are based on the argument that Natalia was a minor.

If, however, the allegations of the four charges are that the Barnetts neglected Natalia because she was dependent upon them because of her dwarfism, the case may proceed.

Indiana Court of Appeals upheld Meyer's ruling in this matter, too.

That is the course that prosecutors have chose to pursue.

A hearing Friday set Michael Barnett's trial for Sept. 12 and set Kristine Barnett's trial for Oct. 24.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Cases of Kristine Barnett, Michael Barnett filled with twists, turns