Kristine Barnett, Natalia Grace’s formerly adoptive mother, is addressing the claims against her made in the new docuseries, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks.
In the docuseries, which aired on ID this week, Natalia accuses Kristine of ab*use. In one episode, she alleges Kristine pepper sprayed her multiple times and beat her with a belt. Another shocking moment came in the series when she confronted her formerly adoptive father face-to-face. During their conversation, Michael Barnett alleges that he was also manipulated and mistreated by Kristine, his ex-wife.
In a public Facebook post, Kristine addresses the accusations from both Natalia and Michael and adamantly denies any form of ab*use.
“Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family,” she begins.
“She was not ab*used by anyone in my family,” Kristine continues. “Let’s get straight to these allegations. Nobody ever took a belt to Natalia and the allegations that she was ‘beaten’ are just plain false. Any discipline of Natalia was very minimal and was not out of the bounds of normal parenting.”
Kristine and her now ex-husband Michael adopted Natalia Grace — an orphan from Ukraine — in 2010. At the time, the couple believed they were adopting a 6-year-old girl, but the Barnetts soon became suspicious of her age and alleged that she was an adult posing as a child. The Barnetts, who have since divorced, also claimed that Natalia tried to harm them and their biological children on numerous occasions. Natalia was accused of attempting to poison Kristine and dragging her towards an electric fence.
In her public statement, Kristine adds that she was not a “perfect mom,” but says she loved Natalia, and when referring to the Natalia Speaks docuseries, she called it a “highly sensationalized show.”
“Natalia had made these allegations before and they were investigated as unfounded,” Kristine writes.
Kristine claims that Natalia “has alleged ab*use by anyone who has had long-term contact” with her, including “neighbors teachers and even children.” Kristine claims these allegations were unfounded and notes that both she and Michael were found not guilty of abandoning Natalia.
“If there had been any abu*se of Natalia or evidence of it, I would have been found guilty of it and I would be in jail,” she writes, while also claiming that Natalia was never abandoned.
Kristine also mentions the decision to legally change Natalia’s age from 8 to 22 in 2012.
“A series of legal happenings based on Natalia’s own behaviors, statements, and much evidence led to her being re-aged at the recommendation of law enforcement,” Kristine writes. “As a result she was allowed to make her own adult decisions of where to live and what to do with her life and time while living where she has.”
In the Jan. 1 premiere episode of the three-part docuseries Natalia Speaks, a DNA test conducted by the medical lab TruDiagnostic seemingly refuted the claim that Natalia was an adult posing as a child and revealed that Natalia is approximately 22 years old today, which suggests she was 9 years old when she was adopted by Michael and Kristine in 2010.
“This one little piece of paper throws every single lie that the Barnetts has said right into the trash with a match,” Natalia said in the episode. “This is so big. Because literally, this has been 13 years of just two people lying their butts off. They ruined a kid’s life. They painted [me] as some big monster.”
In her Facebook post, Kristine writes, “I believe Natalia takes advantage of that sympathy to manipulate people.” She adds, “I believe this because I sat through numerous hospital visits and therapy visits trying to understand and help Natalia and thinking we might be able to find the root of the issue. In the end I learned she is a sociopath.”
Kristine then states she still feels sympathy for Natalia and still hopes she does well in life. Then, she writes about her ex-husband Michael — who also accused Kristine of manipulation and mistreatment in Natalia Speaks. She claims the alleged “deterioration of his mental health” led to their divorce. She also states that Michael never ab*used Natalia either.
Speaking directly about Natalia Speaks, Kristine wrote: “While watching the current series, I found Natalia’s entire demeanor to be quite contradictory to the [demeanor] I experienced from her and it was eerie watching her as if she was very well coached in how she was dressed and behaved and presented herself.”
Kristine claims that the Natalia viewers see in the docuseries is not the “real Natalia.”
“Natalia will go to great lengths to hurt people but also to gain tremendous amounts of sympathy at the same time,” she writes.
She also asserts that Natalia had also alleged being the victim of ab*use at the hands of all three of her siblings, including her brother Jacob, who Kristine mentions by name.
“I can tell you he was a very good brother who was patient with Natalia and always tried his utmost to help her out,” she writes.
She ends her post by stating that she is not Natalia’s or Michael’s “monster,” as Michael had claimed in the docuseries.
“Michael Barnett and Natalia Barnett may have the same monster but that monster is not me,” Kristine writes. “That monster whether it’s mental illness sociopathy or whatever it actually is may be different for each of them. But it’s within their own psyche.”
After Natalia was left in Indiana when the Barnetts moved to Canada, Antwon and Cynthia Mans took Natalia in in 2013. However, the closing minute of last night’s episode of Natalia Speaks seemingly revealed that the relationship between the couple and Natalia had soured.
“Something ain’t right with Natalia. This girl is tweaking,” Antwon claimed to show producers in a voiceover. “I feel like she’s the enemy in the house. And she said to us, we have held her hostage. Made us look like we’re the enemy.”
“Natalia does not have emotions for nothing but herself,” he adds later. “We’re done. We’re done with her.”
