Russian media reports tonight that the Moscow Bassamy District Court, backed by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office. has refused to issue a warrant for the in abstensia arrest and trial of Michael and Nannette Craver in the death of their Forever Son, Vanya Skorobogatov. (Nathaniel Craver) Citing double jeopardy, the court said any prosecution of the Cravers by Russian authorities would be “illegal;.”
The Cravers, originally charged with homicide (with aborted death penalty specifications), conspiracy and child endangerment, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in September, and in mid-November were sentenced to time served and 3/1 years probation.. An autopy revealed 80 injuries to the boy including 20 to his head.
The Russian Investigative Committee placed the couple on INTERPOL’s wanted list (they have never appeared on the online INTERPOL list) and called for their arrest and trial in absentia.
From ITAR-TASS:
The prosecutor explained that the U.S. citizens had already been convicted on this case in their native country, “which means that they cannot be prosecuted for the same crime in Russia”. Therefore, the prosecutor’s representative (Vanya said that he objects to the arrest of the U.S. citizens in absentia. In connection with the verdict earlier passed to the Craver couple in Pennsylvania and in accordance with Article 12 of the Russian Criminal Code the couple are not subject to prosecution on the territory of the Russian Federation, and their arrest in the status of defendants is illegal, the source said.
The investigation’s appeal to arrest the Cravers contains neither necessary data about their personality nor confirms that they are in hiding, the prosecutor said. “There are no grounds to put them into custody as a remand sanction,” he stressed.
There is nothing yet in the online version of the Craver’s hometown newspaper, the York Daily Record.
This decision comes as no surprise. As I wrote earlier, I didn’t see how double jeopardy and the fact that the death occurred on US soil would be prosecutable in Russia. So, as much as we’d like to see justice for Vanya, legally the case is now closed.
In a related matter, one of my readers, sent a comment to Nikto regarding Vanya and “attachment therapy.” As longtime readers may know, some (and I suspect all or nearly all) Russian adoptees killed by their Forever Families were either “officially” diagnosed with “RAD” or adopter-diagnosed and treated on the fly.. I wrote about this in The Therapeutic Murders of Candace Newmaker, David Polreis, Viktor Matthey, and Jessica Albina Hagmann.
Below is the comment I received regarding Vanya.. I haven’t had the time to look into this more yet, but will. In the meantime:.
LindaRosaRN has left a new comment on your post “Ivan Skorobogatov Update: Cravers Aren’t Talking; …“:
Thank you for writing about this case.
I might add that Nathaniel was caught up in the infamous Attachment Therapy. As long time readers know, many of the Russian adoptees killed by their Forever Families, were eithre diagnosted officialy with “RAD” or adopteres took it upon themselves to self-diagnose an self-treat. I wrote about this in
Attachment Therapist Lark Eshleman (certified school psychologist) was recommended to the Cravers by a prestigious Philadelpia hospital. In her book, Eshleman uses Attachment Therapy’s unofficial, catch-all definition of “Reactive Attachment Therapy,” which demonizes adoptees. At the Craver’s trial, Eshleman claimed the boy not only had “RAD,” but was self-injuring because of it.
According to Eshleman, “RAD” children are “aggressive,” “destructive,” prey on others, are oppositional liars, etc. However, RAD, as defined in the DSM-IV, has no aggressive or violent features associated with it — and no self-injuring behaviors. RAD children may possibly tend to be risk-takers but that it not the same thing.
http://www.childrenintherapy.org/attachmentdisorder.html
So if Nathaniel was self-injurious, which appears unlikely considering the autopsy results, he was either misdiagnosed and not treated appropriately, or he was, as so many adopted children have been, diagnosed with the bogus “RAD” disorder simply because he walked into the office of an Attachment Therapist.
There was another bizarre claim made by a so-called adoption specialist in connection with this case that the press swallowed whole. This nonsense claim is discussed here:
http://childmyths.blogspot.com/2010/10/chewing-off-hand-demonizing-nathaniel.html
Advocates for Children in Therapy has found links to numerous adopted child abuse and death cases to Attachment Therapy and its parenting methods. Here are cases they know about:
http://www.childrenintherapy.org/victims/victims.html
It is not unusual to find government agencies and government-funded agencies recommending Attachment Therapy/Parenting. Since a case could reasonably be made that this unvalidated practice is actual torture, public funding of the practice in the USA should be considered a violation of the UN Convention Against Torture.
Hi,
I am the adoptive mother of two children. I adopted my daugther when she was 11 mo and she is now 7yo. She has been diagnosed with RAD and PTSD. She is improving, wording out her anger more and more, but still suffers a lot. Parenting her is difficult many times. I wish I could have spared her all this pain. I wish I knew what to do to make her grow up happy and healthy in her emotions as well as her body. I wish I could heal her wound. Today was a difficult day. I’m tired, I’m teary. She must be so much worse. What can I do to help her? I’ve been reading birthmother’s and adoptee’s blogs all evening. What can I, as an adoptive mother, do to help my child?
Thank you.