U.S. couple face death penalty for killing Russian adopted child

A U.S. couple accused of beating their adopted 7-year-old Russian son to death may face the death penalty, Izvestia daily said on Tuesday.

Nathaniel Craver (Vanya Skorobogatov) died in August 2009 at a hospital in Pennsylvania of traumatic brain injury and malnutrition. Doctors discovered more than 80 external injuries on the boy's body, with 20 of them to his head.

The boy's adoptive parents, Michael and Nanette Craver, who were arrested in February, have denied all criminal charges brought against them, saying the boy consistently hit himself. According to the couple, Nathaniel died after hitting his head on a pellet stove.

Jennifer Russell, senior deputy prosecutor of York County, Pennsylvania, was quoted by Izvestia as saying at a court hearing on Monday that prosecutors would seek capital punishment for the Cravers.

Judge John S. Kennedy postponed court proceedings for June 14 to allow the Cravers to find an attorney qualified to represent them in a death penalty case, the paper said.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100525/159145229.html

most average people to deal with, but that's no excuse for beating them to deth! I believe if I heard of a US child was treated the same way in Russia and their gov't didn't take radical action to charge & punish them, I'd be very upset. There has to be something these parents can do if hey feel incapable of raising one of the Russian children. Contact the agency they dealt with for the adoption. Contact child servces for help/ To beat them is mot acceptable!
They SHOULD be charged and severely penalized!

Whether a child is adopted or naturally born to the parents; why not call social services PRIOR to beating the child? We have so many cases like this in my area where the children are the biological children of one or both parents. I wish people would just call for help!

The couple's family has given testimony against them and does not support their claims that the boy was violent and self abusive. In fact the father of the abuser told investigators that the boy would cower and shake with fear of punishment when he would do something minor.

In one instance, the "mother" took a needle to the boys head to reduce the injury caused swelling and left a scar on his head.

After the single mother sent her child back unaccompanied, Russia is very leery about adoptions to Americans.

Think the conditions for adoption must be more severe for every country

just nuts.

knock their heads against things. It does happen. I used to help take care of a little guy like that. We had to keep mittens on his hands and a helmet on this head. The hitting motion was somehow comforting to him.

I have no idea if that is what happened here.