Russian Ombudsman Investigates Another Child Abuse Case/Christoph Beagley UPDATED

According to this Russian article, the mother featured in a November 2010 Dr. Phil show is due in court January 28. “Astakhov said in late December he received a letter from a woman who has seen a TV show in which a certain Jessica Bigley from Anchorage, Alaska, unveiled her methods of upbringing her recalcitrant son, such as pouring cold water over him and mouth washing with hot pepper sauce.”
Russian ombudsman investigates another adopted child abuse case
[RIA Novosti 1/22/11 by Vladimir Vyatkin]

REFORM Talk discusses this case on January 11, 2011 in  this post.

The child, Daniil Bukharov, is also known as Kristoff/Christoph Bigley/Beagley.

REFORM Talk will continue to follow this story and report any updates.

Update: Seattle, Washington’s Russian Consulate General Office is involved, according to this article. “On January 24th, the diplomats and members of the local adoption agency will visit this family in Anchorage, Alaska. Preliminary hearings are set for January 28th.”
Russia gets control over child abuse case in US
[The Voice of Russia 1/23/11]

Update 2:  “U.S. authorities have opened a child abuse case against Jessica Bigley of Anchorage, Alaska, for her treatment of Daniil Bukharov, adopted in 2008 along with his twin brother, Oleg. If convicted in the U.S. case, Bigley faces up to a year in prison.”

Additionally,it is revealed that “her husband, Harry, works as a police officer specializing in child abuse investigations.”

Two Russian offices are now involved. The “Magadan Mayor’s Office that handles adoptions, said Daniil Bukharov’s case was under review and his adoption might be annulled, Interfax reported” and “Children ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said he would seek criminal charges against the adoptive parents, whom he called “monsters,” and that the boys might be removed from the family for the duration of the investigation.”

Cold Baths, Tabasco Spark Adoption Flap
[The Moscow Times 1/24/11 by Natalya Krainova]

Update 3:  Jessica will be arraigned on child abuse charges on Friday January 28. This article reveals that the adoption placing agency is located in Anchorage, Alaska.

Anchorage woman to be arraigned on child-abuse charges
[KTUU.com 1/24/11 by Tim Akimoff]

Update 4: “Authorities in the Russian Far Eastern city of Magadan say they have received no reports of abuse of a seven-year-old boy by his adoptive U.S. mother.” Also, “”The Bukharov brothers [twins Daniil and Oleg] were adopted in 2008… Afterwards, we received three reports saying that the children were adapting perfectly to the new family,” Magadan ombudswoman Natalia Zelenskaya told RIA Novosti.”

It appears that they were expecting a formal notification of the abuse after the segment aired on Dr. Phil. Instead they were notified by someone who watched the show.

Russian authorities say received no reports of adopted orphan abuse
[RIA Novosti 1/24/11]

Update 5: ” Detective Leonard Torres of the Anchorage Police Department began an investigation the same day, according to a written statement from Torres filed in the case against Beagley.”

The supposed defense is eye-opening”“There is no evidence of any permanent harm to any of her kids.”

Ingaldson says the actions shown on the video do not fit the definition of child abuse found in Anchorage city code.

Beagley could spend up to one year in prison and be fined up to $10,000 if found guilty. A defense in such cases may be launched by arguing the incident was “reasonable parental discipline,” and the law lists factors—the child’s age, the degree of harm to the child and the motive of the parent are among them—that must be considered to determine if a specific incident was reasonable”

Jessica to be a no-show on Friday January 28th hearing: “Beagley is scheduled to be arraigned, but won’t likely attend the hearing in person. She has filed a consent form to allow for the court to proceed without her. Franklin says that will only allow her to be absent from certain hearings. If the case goes to trial Beagley will be required to attend, Franklin says.”

International pepper sauce incident
[Anchorage Press 1/27/11 by Scott Christiansen]

Update 6 : Jessica is “charged with one count of child abuse under 8.30.030119 and that is physical injuring cruelly punishing torture or cruelly confining a child.” This is a municipal charge. The father’s name has been previously misreported as Harry. His name is Gary and is “an Anchorage Police Officer”

Anchorage mom faces child abuse charges
[KTUU 1/27/11 by Rebecca Palsha]

Update 7: This story reveals that Alaska International Adoption Agency is the placing agency.

We would like to share with our readers some of the mind-boggling quotes in this article:

From the defense attorney: “If this hadn’t showed up on ‘Dr. Phil,’ there wouldn’t be anybody saying anything about it.”

From Olga Byrnes, director of Russian adoptions for the Alaska International Adoption: “Byrnes also wonders if creative editing by the show might have made the punishment look worse, she said.”

From the police spokesman :”Some people think spanking your child is wrong, and she doesn’t even do that,” he said.

‘Dr. Phil’ appearance nets abuse charges
[Anchorage Daily News 1/28/11 by Casey Grove]

Update 8: “Representatives of the Russian General Consulate in Seattle will be present at the hearing.” But as previously reported from other articles, Jessica will not be present.

US mother to face court over Russian child abuse
[The Voice of Russia 1/28/11]

Update 9: “Her lawyer said on Friday she did nothing punishable under the child abuse law. The lawyer made the statement at the pretrial hearing at the Anchorage court.”

“The adoptive mother did not attend the hearing, and the lawyer was her representative. He stressed that the ‘straightening methods’ did not hurt Daniil”

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15902748&PageNum=0
[ITAR-TASS 1/28/11]

Update 10: This article reveals that the Beagleys have multiple attorneys, one who claims that the Russian Consulate toured their house and says they are a good family. “The family is active in the Mormon church.”

The next court date is set for March.

Alaska Woman Charged With Child Abuse After Appearing on ‘Dr. Phil’ Show 
[ABC News 1/28/11 by Jessica Hopper]

Update 11:  “American Jessica Bigley, who is accused of cruelty against her adopted
Russian son, intends to come to Russia with her husband and apologize
publically, Russian Children’s Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov says.”

American to apologize for ill-treating Russian adopted son
[The Voice of Russia, 1/29/11]

Update 12: Jessica “saw a “Dr. Phil” episode inviting frustrated parents to the show, according to her lawyer, so she wrote to producers but didn’t hear back until 18 months later.

She originally sent a video showing her talking to her children about cold showers as a consequence of misbehavior, but producers wanted to see the actual discipline, Ingaldson said.

The subsequent video was made after legitimate misbehavior, and Beagley’s sole motivation was to find solutions, he said.”

Russian Uproar Over Adopted Boy’s Punishment in U.S.
[Fox News 2/4/11 by Associated Press]

Update 13: Dr. Phil has update show on Friday February 18, 2011. Jessica and Christoph were flown to Texas for evaluations and help with parenting skills by Dr. Frank Lawlis http://www.franklawlis.com/ .His website says that he provides “integrated assessment and treatment planning for individuals dealing with problems involving neurological issues and related symptoms, including Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD), Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD), Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Memory & Attention Disorders as well as other Neurological and Spectrum Disorders. ” It is not clear how many internationally adopted children that he has assessed. The show concludes with saying that Jessica and Christoph have been helped. “Jessica’s son is still having trouble at school due to the issues involved with being adopted. A local therapist is working with the family further. ” Dr. Phil says that he will continue to followup with the family.

Dr Phil Show
[Dr. Phil Show archived show 2/18/11]

Update 14: “Opening statements are expected [Wednesday August 17, 2011]”
“Beagley and her husband Gary, an Anchorage police officer, have a total of six children, including 7-year-old twin boys adopted from Russia when they were 5.”

“Online clips of the segment show Beagley disciplining the boy by putting hot sauce in his mouth and forcing him, crying, into a cold shower. Beagley told McGraw that past punishments — including timeouts, spankings, forced exercise and pulling his ear — had failed to improve the boy’s behavior.”

“Multiple people reported the alleged abuse to Anchorage police. A detective watched the show before forwarding his report to prosecutors, according to documents filed in court.

‘Hot sauce mom’ abuse trial heads into opening arguments
[Anchorage Daily News 8/17/11 by Casey Grove]

“Beagley, 36, faces a misdemeanor count of child abuse.”
‘Hot sauce’ mom child abuse trial begins
[UPI 8/18/11]

“Jurors in the trial of an American mother accused of abusing her adopted Russian-born son were shown a videotape of her pouring hot sauce into the boy’s mouth.”

“During opening statements Wednesday in the sensational case prosecutor Cynthia Franklin said the cold water treatment was particularly abusive in Alaska.

She said the prosecution will present testimony from the local water utility about how cold that water would have been.

Beagley’s attorney, William Ingaldson, conceded that the video could be disturbing to watch.”

“The boy and his brother had been adopted at age 5 from an orphanage in Magadan, Russia.”

“The two adopted boys are still living with Beagley and her husband, Ingaldson said.”

Jurors shown video during abuse trial of mother
[Fox 8 8/18/11 by Yereth Rosen/Reuters]

“Beagley told police she was at her wits end — she didn’t see cold showers and hot sauce as cruel, but rather as a punishment similar to spanking, defense attorney William Ingaldson said.

Beagley claims she was trying to teach her children right from wrong. The 5-year old had lied to his mother by saying he had not been disruptive in school, though his teachers had put him in timeout for sword fighting with pencils.

Beagley used the hot sauce method to punish the lie; the incident was taped for the Dr. Phil show.

During her interview with Dr. Phil, Beagley said at her lowest point she wished she had never adopted the children.

The Beagley’s said they always wanted to adopt children to make a difference in a child’s life. The Beagley’s already had their hands full with four kids of their own when they adopted twin boys from Russia.

The children were adopted at the age of five from a Russian orphanage. The defense told the jury the twins had been born to a mother with a drinking problem. They lived in a shack, slept in a closet, and were eventually abandoned at the age of three. After the adoption one of the boys was diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, an emotional disorder where children are unable to form attachments.

Her attorney says the Beagley’s tried everything before turning to more extreme corrective punishment — gold stars and reward didn’t work; timeout, limiting TV time and spankings didn’t either. At some point the showers and hot sauce were also ineffective.

Ingaldson says the cold shower punishment was an accident, but when the parent’s realized it got the boys attention they used the method again. The defense says the punishment didn’t leave marks and had no long-term effects.

Caseworkers with Office of Children’s Services have stated they didn’t see a need to remove the kids from the family because they didn’t see signs of maltreatment. Judge David Wallace has decided not to allow that testimony in, except to say OCS decided not to intervene.

The defendant’s husband, Gary Beagley, admits he used similar corrective methods. He was not charged. He sat behind his wife in support Wednesday.”

Beagley Hot Sauce Child Abuse Trial Begins
[KTUU 8/17/11 by Ashton Goodell]

Update 15: “The prosecution in Jessica Beagley’s hot-sauce child abuse trial played video Thursday of Beagley disciplining her children. The tapes were meant to demonstrate to “TheDr. Phil Show” that the Anchorage mother was “angry” enough to be on an upcoming segment about enraged parents.

One of the tapes showed a stressful scene of Beagley getting her children ready for school.

“I’ve been yelling at you for the past 17 minutes to eat your breakfast. Eat it!” Beagley yelled at her daughter.

In the video, the children are late for school again and their mother is rushing them out the door. On the way to school, the children are told to listen and obey their teacher. If they don’t, she threatens to keep them from going trick-or-treating — or worse.

“If you lie, your mouth gets hot or soapy,” Beagley told her young children.”

Water Temperature

“An expert estimates the water at the house would have been approximately 52 degrees — a temperature he described as cold water.”

Christoph’s Teachers’ Testimonies

“In court Thursday, the children’s elementary-school teachers told the jury the children usually listened closely and understood. One boy’s kindergarten teacher, Olga Pierkarski, said the 5-year-old had no disciplinary problems, although says he had a short attention span.

The teachers said Jessica Beagley never asked for help with disciplinary problems or for a referral for professional help.

Beagley was involved in her children’s schoolwork and frequently visited their teachers to discuss issues.

The children’s first-grade teacher, Moira Van Alstine, testified Beagley told her she was going on “Dr. Phil” because friends told her she was an angry mom.

Beagley allegedly asked the teacher not to report what she had told her. Van Alstine said she wasn’t sure what Beagley meant, but said she had an obligation to report child abuse and discussed it with her principal.”
“The child diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder was put on medication after Beagley’s appearance on the show. His teacher said they noticed he had become more focused on his school work and better behaved.”

Beagley Jury Sees Videos Meant to Secure ‘Dr. Phil’ Appearance
[KTUU 8/18/11 by Ashton Goodell]

“To be considered abuse, the jury must decide if the punishment was cruel, torturous and disproportionate to what the boy did. (According to testimony, the boy, one of a set of twins recently adopted from Russia, got into minor trouble at school for sword-fighting with pencils and then denied it when his mother asked about it.)”

“But Thursday teachers from Turnagain Elementary’s Russian immersion program testified that the boy didn’t act out at school much more than any other child his age. Beagley never asked any of the teachers for help, they said.”

“The Office of Children’s Services visited the home. They didn’t remove the boy. In court, teachers said that the boy knew that his family had been on TV. Students talked about it. It made him “anxious and teary,” one teacher said.”

In ‘hot sauce mom’ case, Dr. Phil didn’t help
[Anchorage Daily News 8/18/11 by Julia O’Malley]

“A child welfare official has testified that social workers found no signs of maltreatment when they investigated an Alaska woman accused of punishing her adopted son by putting hot sauce in his mouth.

Virginia Moring, a supervisor in the Office of Children’s Services, testified Friday that the social workers decided not to remove the boy from the home of Jessica Beagley.”

“Moring said social workers made the decision after they interviewed Beagley and her husband, Gary, an Anchorage police officer, as well as their co-workers and officials at the children’s school.

Moring said they also talked to the children, who said “they felt safe,” The Anchorage Daily News reported (http://bit.ly/oieBlg ). At the conclusion of the investigation, “we did not intervene,” she said.

The boy remained in the home, and Beagley sought help from mental health professionals for what she described as repeated behavioral problems, including urinating on the floor of his bedroom and lying.”

“The defense rested its case Friday. Beagley waived her right to testify.

Closing arguments were scheduled for Monday.”

Witness: No maltreatment of Russian boy
[Associated Press 8/20/11]

“Alaskan social services have failed to find any signs of ill-treatment of an adopted child from Russia by U.S. citizen Jessica Bigley. In educational purposes the woman had poured cold water on the boy, and made him rinse his mouth with a hot sauce.”

The Russians have been reporting extensively on this case and some Russian reporters were in the courtroom last week. Though everyone has the right to comment on the case and they should expect better treatment of the children, the conditions and punishments given in their orphanages are equally disgusting.
Alaskan social services fail to find signs of child abuse in Bigley case
[The Voice of Russia 8/21/11]

Update 16:  “In closing statements Monday at Jessica Beagley’s child-abuse trial, the prosecution said that “TheDr. Phil Show” shares the blame for her disciplining her adopted son with hot sauce– but the defense said she was simply punishing misbehavior.

According to prosecutor Cynthia Franklin, Beagley wrote to “Dr. Phil” producers after watching a segment entitled “Angry Mom.” More than a year later, she received a return call asking if she was still angry. The mother of six said she was, and agreed to tape her interactions with her family.”
“Beagley told her attorney she wished she had never sent the tapes to “Dr. Phil,” saying she has been humiliated by the attention the video received. Her attorney said Beagley told the producers she refused to hurt her children just to get on the program.

Beagley turned to hot sauce and cold showers after other punishments didn’t work. Ingaldson says his client didn’t want to punish her children, but felt compelled to correct bad behavior. He pointed out that the state Office of Children’s Services didn’t intervene.” [Yea, like that is the Gold Standard!]

“A therapist working with the 7-year-old said she believes the emotional disorder resulted from trauma sustained before the Beagleys adopted the boy.” [Yea, I’m sure this didn’t exacerbate any PTSD  Nothing says I love you more than the person who you should trust screaming at you, shoving hot sauce in your mouth and making you hold it there, then tossing you in a 52 degree shower while you scream AND have your sister film it, then have it sent in to a syndicated show and have your mom continue to justify it…trauma sustained BEFORE….riiiiight.]
Closing Statements Given in Beagley Child Abuse Trial
[KTUU 8/22/11 by Ashton Goodall]

“A jury of three men and three women now has the job of trying to reach a verdict in the trial of Jessica Beagley, an Anchorage mother accused of child abuse for using hot sauce and a cold shower to punish her adopted son.

The lawyer for Beagley says “”There’s no dispute that Beagley caused the boy pain, Ingaldson said. The city prosecutor had not proved the punishment to be torture or to have been done in a cruel way, just for the sake of causing pain and not for the boy to learn a lesson, he said.”

Hot sauce discipline decision is jury’s after final arguments
[Anchorage Daily News 8/22/11 by Casey Grove]

Well the CDC says child maltreatment is the following:    http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childmaltreatment/definitions.html

“Words or overt actions that cause harm, potential harm, or threat of harm to a child. Acts of commission are deliberate and intentional; however, harm to a child may or may not be the intended consequence. Intentionality only applies to the caregivers’ acts-not the consequences of those acts. For example, a caregiver may intend to hit a child as punishment (i.e., hitting the child is not accidental or unintentional) but not intend to cause the child to have a concussion. The following types of maltreatment involve acts of commission:

• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Psychological abuse”

Now the lawyer for Jessica speaks out in a new Q and A. A Q&A with William Ingaldson, Counsel for the ‘Hot Sauce’ Mom [Wall Street Journal blogs 8/23/11 by Nathan Koppel]

Here are some of his fabulous defense gems:
“Isn’t there a better way that Jessica could have dealt with her son’s issues?

I think a cold shower can get your attention. I’ve heard from other parents who use hot sauce as a disciplinary method. I think it’s better than washing your mouth out with soap. It’s probably not as bad as some dads who take off their belt or use a stick to spank their kids. Is there a better method [than hot sauce and cold showers]? ”

“Does Jessica feel like she deserves any punishment for what she did?

I haven’t asked her, but I don’t think she deserves punishment. If she does then I think a vast majority of parents deserve equal punishment. The video is troubling to watch, but If you videotaped any child betting punished, it would be horrible to watch.”

“Does Jessica feel any remorse or regret about this?

What she wants more than anything is to be a good mom. She feels remorse about the punishment, not because the punishment itself was necessary outrageous, but because it didn’t work. She feels grateful that these boys are getting professional help now, and she is putting effort into that. This is a nice family.”

Yes, such a nice family. I am getting warm fuzzies just thinking about them…

Update 17: The jury convicted Jessica Beagley on Tuesday August 23, 2011.

“Beagley faces up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine, with sentencing scheduled for Monday in Anchorage. It took the jury of three men and three women a single day to find the so-called “hot sauce mom” guilty .”

“Beagley stood blank-faced as the verdict was read Tuesday afternoon. She quickly walked out of the courtroom with her husband Gary, an Anchorage police officer. The couple did not respond to questions from reporters as they hurried to a stairwell.”

“But [Prosecutor] Franklin said jurors were likely swayed by the combination of punishments “piled on top of one another” as shown in clips filmed by another of Beagley’s children. ”

“After the segment aired, the clips of Beagley angrily forcing the boy to hold a swig of hot sauce in his mouth — “Don’t you spit it at me!” — and forcing him, wailing, to take a cold shower gained a new audience online. Viewers began debating whether Beagley’s parenting was tough, but akin to spanking, or cruelly abusive long before a jury was asked to decide if she committed a crime.

Russian Reaction

“An assistant to the Russian Commissioner of Children’s Rights said in January that there was a chance Russian authorities would seek the twin boys’ return to their home country if Beagley was found guilty. But it was unclear Tuesday what action, if any, they planned to take in the wake of the jury’s verdict.

Year in jail possible for mom guilty of hot sauce punishment
[Anchorage Daily News 8/23/11 by Casey Grove and Kyle Hopkins]

1. Dr. Phil has never been licensed in California and lost his license to practice in Texas under less-than-stellar conditions. He should have reported this abuse to the authorities upon watching the tapes even though he is no longer a mandatory reporter-it is called compassion for the child.

2. The adoptive father WHO IS A COP admitted that he ALSO used similar “corrective” punishments (see our Update 14) yet he is not charged at all and has had no punishment or restrictions on his job. Why is there no public backlash against him?

3. Hot sauce being held in the mouth can not only cause an issue with possibly swallowing it, causing burning and possible erosions, but it could be ASPIRATED (sucked down into your lungs) and cause damage that way. This very serious possibility should have been taken into consideration.

4. No one in the media is talking about the effect of watching your twin or adoptive sibling being subjected to this abuse. For sure, it has affected them as well emotionally and psychologically.

5. Everyone is afraid to report on whether or not they learned these punishment techniques from their religious associations (Update 10 discusses their religion.) So many of our cases in the How Could You? Archive have a crossover with stern, fear-based religious punishments (from different religions.)

Update 18: ABC adds a few other points about the punishment that were not previously revealed.

“The mom admits to spanking her child and forcing him to do jumping jacks until he’s exhausted.”

We want to point out that while there are appropriate interventions that involve exercise to increase blood flow to the brain, calm children and help them focus especially with children that have ADHD or autism, forcing a child to engage in exercise to the point of exhaustion is crossing the line. This exhaustive exercise punishment has been shown in other cases in our How Could You? Archive. One that comes to mind is the Russian female siblings in Colorado. See Leschinsky How Could You? Case in which the girls were forced to run 45 miles in 3 days and do hundreds of pushups over a board spiked with nails.

Hot Sauce Mom Jessica Beagley Found Guilty of Child Abuse
[ABC  News 8/23/11 by Jessica Hopper]

Update 19: Jessica’s sentence is  “three years of probation, a 180-day suspended jail sentence and a $2,500 fine, also suspended.”

3 years probation for Alaska mom who punished son with hot sauce in mouth
[AP 8/29/11]

“”As a mother, I feel that it’s my most important job to love, care for, nurture and teach my children. I’ve tried to do that every single day that I’ve been a mom,” a tearful Beagley said before the sentence was imposed.”

“Angry mom” from Dr Phil show given suspended sentence
[Fox 4 KC 8/29/11 by Yereth Rosen/Reuters]

Update 20: Jessica gives more comments. “”I have three little boys all with special needs. I have one little boy who is much more special … who came to me with special needs that I didn’t know how to handle,” she said.

Her husband, Gary, who is an Anchorage police officer, also addressed the court.

“We both love our children, our adopted and our biological. It makes no difference … we have 11 different therapy appointments every week. We are just trying to be the best parents we can,” he said.”

Alaska’s ‘Hot Sauce’ Mom Sentenced to 3 Years of Probation, Fine, for Child Abuse
[ABC News 8/29/11 by Jessica Hopper]

“I cannot say that this ruling completely satisfies us, but we must accept the verdict” the Kremlin children’s rights ombudsman,Pavel Astahkov, said in a statement released by his spokeswoman.

Astahkov added: “The conviction of Beagley and the sentence applied, while conditional, shows that the American justice system is prepared to punish parents who have humiliated their children, and that American society will not close its eyes to such cases.”

Russia not satisfied by U.S. “angry mom” sentence
[Reuters 8/30/11]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

See the Russian Interview that occurred six months prior to Dr. Phil show here.