Photo: Tippecanoe County Jail, ID
Kristine Barnett wrote two lengthy Facebook posts addressing the upsetting allegations against her.
By Alice Kelly — Written on Jun 05, 2023
Kristine Barnett is speaking out after the release of "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace," an ID docuseries investigating claims made by Kristine and her now-ex-husband Michael Barnett that their adopted daughter was secretly an adult woman with dwarfism who was trying to kill them.
The Barnetts adopted Natalia Grace in 2010, a child they believed was 6 years old and originally from Ukraine, taking her to their Indiana home where they lived with their three sons.
Over the next number of years, the former couple claimed they observed several details that made them question Natalia's age — they claim she had pubic hair and was menstruating at an abnormally young age, they say she couldn't understand Ukrainian and was much larger in stature than a friend of a similar age with the same condition. They also claim she began to threaten to harm their family.
By 2012, they successfully petitioned an Indiana court to legally change her age from eight to 22 years old, despite a skeletal survey done by a local children’s hospital which concluded that she was about 11.
The Barnetts moved Natalia into an apartment to live alone before packing up and moving to Canada where they eventually divorced.
But, amid the release of the docuseries, which Kristine did not partake in, she is speaking out to defend herself.
Where is Kristine Barnett now?
Kristine Barnett is now living in Florida.
Court documents obtained by The Exponent list Kristine as living in Florida.
While an investigation did lead to both Michael and Kristine being charged with neglecting a dependant, their charges were dropped in late 2022 and early 2023 respectively.
Photo: Tippecanoe County Jail
Kristine Barnett has taken to Facebook to defend her treatment of Natalia.
Kristine, who does not speak in the docuseries that accuses her of abusing Natalia claims that she is the only person who saw Natalia's true self — an adult with a disability who was capable of living a full life alone.
"I do feel I was the only one who really saw Natalia as a capable beautiful human being inside of the package I was presented and what she was going through. She was struggling with identity for who [knows] how many reasons. It even made her violent. But I will say that all I did is what I always do - see a capable beautiful person," she wrote in a Facebook post on May 28.
"The saddest thing here is how dwarfism is being portrayed. The idea that the media will even use people with short stature to try to perpetuate current day ideas that short people are children or need to live in doll houses that are miniature or cannot make their own medical decisions or function in the real world is terrible. I never saw Natalia as any different than anyone," she continued.
Photo: ID
In the docuseries, Michael Barnett claims his wife forced her adoptive daughter to stand at the wall for hours until she soiled herself and admits they made Natalia sleep outside on the deck as punishment.
In her Facebook post, Kristine goes on to insist that Natalia was an adult and she wanted to treat her as such. She also comments on The Mans family, Antwon Mans and Cynthia Mans who legally adopted Natalia in 2016.
"We went to court with medical evidence and prevented them from becoming her guardians fighting for her right to make her own choices and we won. That is not 'abandoned' that is concerned and actively trying to help. They are not her legal 'parents.'"
She further claims that it was the State who abandoned Natalia by not having adequate services for her.
Kristine Barnett also addressed the use of her private images in the docuseries.
Michael Barnett, who does appear in the docuseries, uses the production to deflect most of the blame onto his former wife, even suggesting she used sex as manipulation.
Kristine also alludes to this inclusion in a May 31 Facebook post.
The volume of male interest that has suddenly appeared is overwhelming. But the bottom line is (and listen to this one Investigation Discovery).
"Photos of me in sexually compromising positions from private conversations should have consent to be shared. I did not consent to sharing these and I do not appreciate my family and friends being exposed to my private sex life," she writes.
Kristine also addresses her newfound male admirers telling them, "No I will not date you."
Alice Kelly is YourTango’s Deputy News and Entertainment Editor. Based in Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things crime, social justice, pop culture, and human interest.