Judge weighs gag order for parents accused of abandoning adopted daughter
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — Prosecutors in Tippecanoe County have asked for a gag order in the case against parents charged with the neglect of their Ukrainian-born, adopted daughter.
Those parents are Michael and Kristine Barnett.
Prosecutors say the Barnetts adopted the girl in 2010.
But the Barnetts argue she was never a child but instead an adult with a form of dwarfism.
A Marion County judge legally changed the Barnetts’ adopted daughter’s age from 8 to 22 in 2012, a year before the parents left her in a Lafayette apartment.
Kristine Barnett told News 8 the adoption was a scam.
A hearing on the gag order is scheduled for Wednesday.
A jury trial for the Barnetts is currently scheduled for Jan. 28.
Previous coverage of the Barnetts
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