Adopted 'child' who turned out to be 22-year-old woman finally faces adoptive father in tense exchange
Topics: Film and TV, True crime, Documentaries
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: ID
Topics: Film and TV, True crime, Documentaries
An adopted 'child' who actually turned out to be 22-year-old woman has come face-to-face with her adoptive father in a rather tense exchange.
Back in 2010, Kristine and Michael Barnett believed they’d adopted a six-year-old Ukrainian girl named Natalia Grace into their lives.
It wasn't long, however, before the couple claimed they'd started to notice their new 'child' exhibit some strange behavior.
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It turned out their 'little girl' Natalia actually had a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal, and that, despite them believing her to just be six-years-old, she had 'periods, adult teeth and pubic hair'.
The unfathomable story was told in the Investigation Discovery documentary, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, in which Kristine and Michael detailed the 'horror' of their experience with an individual they now claim is a 'sociopath'.
The couple alleged that their breaking point came when Natalia allegedly threatened them with a knife and said she was 'gonna kill everybody'.
Kristina also claimed that she'd watched her put 'chemicals' in her coffee.
Natalia has always denied the allegations made against her, saying they are 'not true at all'.
In 2013, the family – along with their three biological sons – moved to Canada, leaving Natalia in an apartment on her own, but later divorced and charges of neglect of a dependent were brought against them.
Michael was found not guilty while Kristina's case was dismissed.
And now, a brand-new programme titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks - which is set be released in January - sees Natalia tell her version of events.
"In every lie is a hidden truth, but you gotta dig enough to be able to see it," she tells viewers in a newly-released trailer.
"This is my side of the story. Do I look like a monster to you?"
As part of the new show, Michael and Natalia came face-to-face for the first time in a while.
"I was never in y'all's room with a knife," Natalia tells her adopted dad.
While Michael responded: "I know what I saw."
The teaser also sees her confronting Michael and breaking down in tears, telling him: "You're supposed to be my dad. You're supposed to be the one to protect me."
The trailer provides another look at her meeting with Michael, with the dad also storming out of the one-on-one interview.
The intense conversation is part of a six-part docuseries which will debut on 1 January on ID.