A U.S. couple that was sentenced to 16 months in jail for the involuntary manslaughter of their adopted Russian son were released from the court-room.
A Pennsylvania court ruled on Friday that Michael and Nannette Craver must serve from 16 months to four years. Since they had already spent about year and a half in jail, they were released from the court-room.
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for the couple, who were released on $50,000 bail each in September.
Seven-year-old Nathaniel Craver (Ivan Skorobogatov), died in August 2009 at a hospital in Pennsylvania. Doctors said the boy died of injuries and malnutrition. They discovered more than 80 injuries on his body, including 20 on his head.
The Cravers were arrested in February 2010 and denied all the charges brought against them, saying the boy suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and attachment disorders. The couple's defense said his injuries were self-inflicted.
Russian child rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov condemned the U.S. jury’s ruling that the killing of the boy was accidental.
Since 1991, a total of 17 adopted Russian children have died worldwide as a result of beatings or negligence, according to official Russian statistics.
Russia also has a serious domestic child abuse problem, with some 2,000 children killed every year. Just this week, a woman near the Central Russian town of Lipetsk was arrested after throwing her three-year-old daughter from a third-storey apartment after she broke a DVD player. The girl survived, but is in a critical condition in hospital.
