Welcome to Wednesday Weirdness, a recurring theme where we post something truly weird and wacky in adoption or child welfare.

“Stephayne and Michael Potts helped a Ukrainian man enroll in Harrisburg High School, but did not know he was older than he claimed, according to their attorney, Corky Goldstein.

The couple found out that Artur Samarin was 23, instead of 18, a few months ago, about the same time several other troubling things came to light about the young man they had taken in like a son, Goldstein said.

Goldstein could not reveal what exactly troubled the couple, but he said it was enough to cause them to question what they knew of Samarin and ask him to move out of their Harrisburg home. They also contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, since they knew the case carried immigration implications.

Their concern did not stem from Samarin’s relationship with a 15-year-old girl, Goldstein said, because they did not know of any alleged intimacy. But Goldstein said the full story would come out eventually.

Goldstein provided new details from the Potts’ point of view Thursday after agreeing to represent the couple pro-bono. The attorney representing Samarin, however, strongly objected to Goldstein’s characterization of the couple and situation.

The couple has few financial resources, Goldstein said, but needs help navigating the legal system after Samarin’s arrest last week for identity theft charges and two sex crimes relating to the 15-year-old girl.

The identity theft charges allege a conspiracy to use false documents to enroll in school and obtain a Pennsylvania driver’s license. But no charges have been filed against the Potts, who acted as adopted parents of Samarin.

The couple allowed Samarin to use their last name, and he became known as “Asher Potts,” Goldstein said. The couple never had children of their own.

Goldstein said he had reached out to District Attorney Ed Marsico to see if charges would be brought against Stephayne Potts for helping Samarin.

“They wanted to do the right thing for him, whether they were right or wrong,” Goldstein said. “If they did anything improper or illegal, they’re willing to own up to whatever she did….If charges are filed, she will turn herself in.”

The beginning of ‘Asher Potts’

The relationship between the Potts and Samarin began in the Townhouse Apartments in 2012 or 2013, Goldstein said. The Potts had a one-bedroom apartment and Samarin was living in an apartment with about four other international students who came to the United States as part of a work program.

Samarin befriended the Potts and shared stories about violence in Ukraine. He even reportedly showed them bullet and knife wounds on his body. Eventually, the other students had a falling out with Samarin and reportedly told him he had to move out.

That’s when Samarin asked to stay with the Potts, and they agreed to let him sleep on their couch.

The Potts were evicted from the apartment in June 2013, according to online court records. They moved into a house on Fourth Street and brought Samarin with them. In this home, Samarin had his own room and bathroom, Goldstein said.

Although Samarin said in a jailhouse interview that the Potts took money from him, came up with the idea to pretend he was five years younger and took advantage of him through excessive chores, Goldstein said none of that was true.

“They had nothing to gain,” from the relationship with Samarin, Goldstein said. “She did all the cooking. They bought him clothes and took care of him. They even bought him plane tickets” to visit colleges.

The couple simply wanted to help him to succeed and achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut, Goldstein said.

Adam Klein, the attorney representing Samarin, however, strongly disagreed with Goldstein.

“This characterization of Mr. and Mrs. Potts is utter nonsense,” Klein said. “These are bad people. The truth will come out soon enough.”

Samarin eventually started a relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2014, according to police reports. The Potts spent time with the girl’s parents for Thanksgiving, Goldstein said.

“They became good friends,” Goldstein said of the parents. “They were glad he found a girl he liked.”

But the Potts reportedly didn’t know anything about the alleged sexual relationship that triggered two sex crimes against Samarin.

Although the Potts eventually went to the authorities about Samarin’s identity, they don’t wish any ill-will toward him, Goldstein said.

The negative comments Samarin made about the Potts broke Stephayne’s heart, Goldstein said.

“That’s so far from the truth,” he said. “They only tried to love him and take care of him like a son.”

Trying to avoid the ‘media frenzy’

Samarin moved in with the parents of some school friends in October. The Potts, meanwhile, got evicted from the home on Fourth Street over unpaid rent. They moved into a home in Dillsburg, but this week were served with an eviction notice there as well for bouncing their first two rent checks, according to court records.

The couple has relocated to an undisclosed home and paid their rent upfront with help from friends, Goldstein said. They’re trying to lay low, he said, to avoid the “media frenzy,” that’s surrounding the case.

“They’re okay right now,” he said. “I do know that they are very poor, with very limited funds. They’ve tried to make a go of it for 20 years. A lot of people fall into that. It doesn’t mean they aren’t good people.”

The hoopla over Samarin’s identity prompted Michael to lose his job as a security guard, Goldstein said.

Stephayne previously worked at the bookstore at Harrisburg Area Community College, where she was taking classes, but she no longer works there, Goldstein said.

“They really don’t have any money coming in,” he said.

The Potts’ history

Michael’s mother, Carolyn Potts, who lives in Arizona, said Stephayne had been studying to become a writer. She has already written two books under the name Sara R. Rock, Carolyn Potts said.

Both books are autobiographical in nature, she said.

Michael has held a series of jobs, including one at the state liquor store, Carolyn Potts said. He got robbed several times while working at the store even chased one robber into the street, where they fought, she said.

Carolyn Potts said her son has long struggled with keeping jobs because of his mindset, and social skills, which can be considered, “odd,” she said.

He nearly died in a car wreck in 1977 and suffered brain damage. Still, she said he remains highly intelligent, but sometimes lacks the social skills to know when he’s annoying someone or upsetting them.

Michael has a wonderful baritone voice and previously sang in a group at a Jewish temple in Harrisburg that the couple attended, Carolyn Potts said. Stephayne grew up Jewish and Michael converted, Potts said.

The couple has been married since 1995. Despite many financial struggles, “they stick together,” Carolyn Potts said.

Potts, who spent a month with Samarin last year, said she believes her son and his wife were simply trying to help the young man, not use him for any gain of their own

“I have a feeling (Samarin) tends to exaggerate,” she said. “I know Stephayne wanted him to do chores, but I don’t think it was a slave environment.””

Adoptive parents’ of student impostor in Harrisburg didn’t know his real age: attorney [Penn Live 3/4/16 by Christine Vendel]

“Artur Samarin lived the past several years of his life with Michael Potts and Stephayne McClure-Potts as their 18-year-old son, Asher Potts.

The Potts couple told relatives they had adopted the boy. Others thought the couple were his foster parents.

But as police and others try to untangle the case of why and how the 23-year-old Samarin posed as Asher Potts, an 18-year-old high school student, the couple said through an attorney that they never adopted him. 

That seemed like it should have been an easy thing to check.  But the problem in Pennsylvania is this: most claims of adoption cannot be checked through court records.

“Adoption records are sealed. You can say someone is adopted, but you have no way of ever knowing,” said Pamela Purdy, an adoption lawyer at Purdy Law Office LLC.

An adoption typically works like this, according to Purdy and Stuart Sacks, a fellow in the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys: In order for a child under 18 to be adopted, both the biological and adoptive parents must agree and the biological parents waive all parental rights. Parental rights may be stripped from a biological parent unwillingly, if there is a reason.

In the case of international adoptions, both countries must also sign off on the adoption. If the adoption meets the standards — usually of the  Hague Convention of Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, then the U.S. Department of State would go through the process of issuing a visa, immigration and naturalization for the adoptee.

Courts often require adoptive parents to go through a background check and may do home inspections as well. No background check is done on the child to be adopted, or his or her biological parents.

Adoptions arent solely for minors. There is a process for adult adoption for anyone 18 and older. Such adoptions are often symbolic in nature, such as a step-parent adopting a step-child.

While often similar to the process for a child, it is not necessary to waive any parental rights for an adult adoption.

During the adoption process, a person’s name may also be changed as well. A name change could involve a background check for the person changing their name.

The process is lengthy and can take a number of months or years to fully complete. But anyone can claim to have gone through the process. And it can be nearly impossible, barring a court action or investigation that open the records to the public, to verify a claim of adoption.

In Samarin’s case, it appears none this took place.

Michael Potts and Stephayne McClure-Potts are accused in court records of helping Samarin use false documents to enroll in school and obtain a Pennsylvania driver’s license under the name “Asher Potts.”

The couple said in a statement issued through a lawyer that they allowed Samarin to take their name. They have not been charged in the case against Samarin.

In Samarin’s application to PennLive’s Best and Brightest, he listed family friend Rasheeda Pullin as his guardian.

Pullin said she and her husband allowed Samarin to live in their home after he willingly left the Potts’ home last fall. She was unaware of his true age. ”

‘Parents’ of Ukrainian imposter say he wasn’t adopted [Penn Live 3/4/16 by Rachel Bunn]

Update:”The couple who cared for the 23-year-old Ukrainian national attending Harrisburg High School under a false identity say they contacted federal authorities in November 2015 after he started to make threats he would hurt classmates and teachers.

Stephayne and Michael Potts spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday about their relationship with Artur Samarin. Police arrested Samarin, who was known to the Harrisburg community as Asher Potts, on Feb. 23. Stephayne claims she initially called the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the fall because she was worried Artur might hurt fellow students.

“He made comments about other shootings, and he told us that everyone would know his name. He said his name would be the biggest in the world,” Stephayne told reporters. “He started talking about certain kids in school he wanted to hurt. He started talking about blowing he school up.”

Samarin’s attorney, Adam Klein, said Potts’ claims were “full of lies.” Klein added there has been no indication that Samarin had a violent past.

“Up until the time he was arrested, he was an upstanding student,” Klein said. “She is trying to paint herself as the victim. One would only need to look at her criminal history to see she is a con artist.”

Stephayne and Michael Potts are listed as defendants in 20 landlord/tenant and civil lawsuits, which has cost them over $42,000. They say they are broke; most of their money, they claim, has been spent on a boy they still refer to as ‘Asher’.

“We gave him everything we had. We borrowed. We did everything we could to help him,” Michael Potts said.

Stephayne said she and her husband met Artur Samarin in the late-summer of 2012. He was in Harrisburg with other Ukranian students as part of an international work program. She discovered him inside the Townhouse Apartments complex in Harrisburg, where Stephayne and Michael lives and Artur was staying. Stephayne said Artur told her and Michael that he was getting beat up by fellow students on his work program.

In September of 2012, Stephayne and Michael took in Artur and in October, enrolled him at Harrisburg High School. Stephayne said she did not need any documents to get Artur into the Harrisburg School District.

Stephayne said she originally thought Artur to be 18 years old when she saw he was working at a nearby Red Robin. However, when Artur told her he was 14, she said she believed him. He said he was shot and stabbed while living in the Ukraine, he did not have a father, and his mother abandoned him at 9 years old.

“There were late nights where he’s screaming, wetting the bed , and breaking into cold sweats,” Stephayne said. “I rocked him. I made him a promise: No one will hurt you again.”

Stephayne admitted to knowing he was in the country illegally after his visa expired, but said she had every intention to legalize his status once he turned 18.

Wednesday’s media opportunity was relegated mostly to questions by the Pottses attorney, Corky Goldstein. During multiple occasions, Stephayne broke down in tears talking about Artur Samarin. She says she is concerned about people’s safety if he is able to get released from Dauphin County Prison.

“I still don’t believe hes 23,” she said, tearfully, saying how she watched him go through puberty. “Someone will have to prove that to me. We watched him go from high pitched tones to the way he speaks now. His show size, clothing size, he got taller as well.”

Artur joined the Jr. ROTC program in high school, and according to friends, had expressed interest in joining the military or becoming an astronaut. However, he was told in late 2015 about a heart condition which would prevent him from participating in many future activities. Stephayne said that is when they started to notice a change in his behavior.

Stephayne and Michael Potts have not been charged with any crimes.”

Adoptive mom of Ukrainian high school imposter says he was planning an attack [Aol.com 3/10/16]

Update 2: “The adoptive parents of a Ukrainian man who posed as a high school student and had sex with a 15-year-old girl allegedly used him to get public handouts.

Stephayne and Michael Potts have been accused of putting son Asher – who turned out to be 23-year-old illegal immigrant Artur Samarin – down on welfare forms in a bid to get taxpayer-funded food and medical assistance, even though they knew their son’s true identity.

According to ABC News 27, they also knowingly made false statements to the Dauphin County Assistance Office in Pennsylvania and took around $13,000.

The couple have not been arrested, but are due in court on October 6. They are each facing two counts of fraud.

Earlier this month Samarin pleaded guilty to a number of fraud and sex charges, which carry penalties of up to 40 years in prison and $90,000 in fines.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges and now faces deportation.

Samarin, who called himself Asher Potts, is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

The arrest affidavit said Samarin told a detective in February he had sex with the girl in the fall of 2014, when he was 22.

 

He had impressed teachers and community leaders while attending John Harris High School in Harrisburg and had been accepted into a college in Florida before authorities concluded he was considerably older and was a Ukrainian citizen who overstayed a student work visa.

Since Samarin has no sentencing deal, it will be up to Dauphin County Judge Deborah Curcillo to choose his punishment during sentencing scheduled for September.

Samarin, thin and pale and dressed in a yellow county prison uniform, said little as he stood before the judge with his lawyer, Adam Klein.

He told the judge he had been speaking English for more than three years and understood the charges against him.

Klein said Samarin consulted with an immigration attorney before deciding to enter the pleas.

Swatara Township Police Chief Jason Umberger testified that he first met Samarin while volunteering in December 2014 at a ‘shop with a cop’ event that pairs economically disadvantaged children with police officers to spend $100 buying Christmas presents for the children’s families.

Umberger said Samarin expressed interest in the educational citizens’ police academy his department runs but was too young to participate.”

Adoptive parents of Ukrainian man, 23, who posed as a high school student and had sex with a girl, 15, are facing fraud charges after ‘using him to take public handouts’

[Daily Mail 8/26/16 by Wills Robinson]