Russia’s investigation committee opened a separate inquiry on Tuesday into the death of a Russian toddler whose adoptive parent was acquitted in the United States, the committee’s website said.
Early last month a U.S. court in Iowa cleared 35-year-old Brian Dykstra of murder charges in the death of 18-month-old Isaac Dykstra, who died of head injuries in the U.S. in 2005 three months after adoption. Brian Dykstra had blamed the death on the boy’s pre-existing ailments.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a domestic investigation. Under Russian law, the culprit might face a life sentence if found guilty.
“If there is an acquittal abroad, there are no legal obstacles to a Russian criminal prosecution of a person who committed a crime against Russian interests or a Russian citizen,” the investigative committee said.
The U.S. authorities failed to inform Russia of the boy’s death and their investigation.
The Russian investigators said they would check the adoption procedures of other Russian children abroad who died or suffered abuse. A total of 19 children adopted in Russia have died at the hands of their adoptive parents in the U.S. since the early 1990s, according to Russian children’s ombudsman Pavel Astakhov.
In a similar development, a court in Pennsylvania sentenced Michael and Nanette Craver to 16 months in jail two weeks ago after they were found guilty of the involuntarily manslaughter of their adopted Russian son Ivan who had been found dead with at least 80 injuries on his body.
Russian child adoption cases in the U.S. tend to come into the spotlight in a clear sign of aggravating relations between Moscow and Washington. Relations indeed have been rather bumpy in the wake of the U.S. missile defense plans and Russia’s parliamentary elections.
