The case of Natalia Grace Barnett has been one that has shocked the masses and with new revelations constantly being brought to light, it seems as though public opinion on the issue has been divided.
It all started when Investigation Discovery (ID) released a docuseries titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace last year which told the story of how a couple named Michael and Kristine Barnett adopted what they believed to be a six-year-old child from Ukraine back in 2010.
However, the Barnetts soon started getting suspicious of Natalia after they discovered some off-putting things about her. Soon enough, these little things, which included an extensive vocabulary for a child as well as oddly violent outbursts, allegedly turned into physical threats and sociopathic behavior, as per recollections from the parents.
Not only had Natalia allegedly threatened Michael and Kristine but apparently she also did the same thing to their biological children.
"She would make statements and draw pictures saying she wanted to kill family members, roll them up in a blanket, and put them in the backyard," Kristine said during an interview with the Daily Mail. "She was standing over people in the middle of the night. You couldn’t go to sleep. We had to hide all the sharp objects."
"She was jumping out of moving cars," Kristine also added. "She was smearing blood on mirrors. She was doing things you could never imagine a little child doing."
As per All Things Interesting, the family ran some medical tests on Natalia which suggested that she was at least 14, and perhaps far older until just three years later, they were convinced that Natalia was actually an adult woman with "spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia" - a rare case of dwarfism.
The family then decided that they were going to pack up their things and move to Canada, but without their adopted daughter, whom they left to live in an apartment on her own.
In 2019, both parents, who are now divorced, were charged with felony neglect.
Kristine was released on September 19, 2019, after posting a $5,500 bond, while her ex-husband was released after posting $5,000 bail.
As ID continues to release more new episodes of the show and now Natalia speaks her truth, it seems as though public opinion is now shifting to favor the Ukrainian-born girl, especially after allegations of abuse were raised.
"I can’t even imagine how terrifying it must have been for a nine year old to be abandoned by their family and dumped in a random apartment by all by themselves," wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter, while another added: "Michael and Jacob both admitted Natalia was whipped, punched, kicked down the stairs... and Jacob was instructed to p*** on her bed. And folks still support that family."
"See pepper spraying someone MAY encourage one to have a knife at the bottom of your bed [i'm just saying]..." a third chimed in.
"I’m just upset we had to sit through hours and hours of lies before we got the truth. I hope the neighbors from the first documentary feel like pieces of shit. they painted her out as a monster too! i cannot see her doing what they said she did," this user also commented.
Others also slammed Michael as he made an appearance on the show, with many branding him as "fake" and a "liar."
"Watching 'The Curious Case of Natalia Grace' never followed original case so anything I say is just my strong opinion. So, 'in my opinion' Michael Barnett comes across as a fake, liar & trying to save his own lying a**. He [100] was cool with what was done to Natalia till shtf," this user wrote.
And another agreed writing: "Watching the Natalia Grace documentary and so far I have 1 opinion: Michael Barnett is a s*** actor."
The six-part special also shows Natalia going to get DNA testing done by Dr. Halland Chen at TruDiagnostic, who used a sample of her blood to determine her "chronological age."
The tests revealed that she was "closer to 22" in age, which they stated was "pretty close to what you think, you're almost 20, that's within two years."
That age is much younger than the 34 years of age she'd be under her legally changed birthdate if Kristine and Michael's plea was passed.
As Dr Chen shared the results in the footage, she tearfully said: "This one little piece of paper throws every single lie the Barnetts have said right into the trash, with a match. This is so big, this has been 12 years of just two people, lying their butts off. They ruined a kid's life.
"They painted them as a big monster when in reality, they were the ones. It just proves I was not lying about my age. They ignored everything that was pointing to the truth, just so they could have this stupid lie. They knew it and they still did what they did," she added.
Episodes of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks are now available to watch on Discovery+.
