‘My adopted mum claimed I tried to kill brother then sent me back to orphanage’

A US couple adopted a nine-year-old girl from a Russian orphanage in 1997, but the family broke down amid disputed allegations – now the adopted daughter tells her side of the story

After years of unsuccessful attempts to have a baby, one couple turned to a Russian adoption website – believing they’d discovered their ideal match.

In 1997, Crystal and Jesse spotted a nine-year-old girl who they thought should be part of their family . “She was a beautiful child,” Crystal recalled. “We thought … this is an older child we can give a normal life.” They decided to call her Caralee.

At the same time, the pair chose to adopt three year old Joshua through the same adoption agency, as reported by CBS’ 48 Hours. The first signs of trouble began when Crystal and Jesse received Caralee’s medical files, reports the Mirror.

“They did say she was oligophrenic,” Crystal revealed. Oligophrenic is an outdated term referring to a mental health issues.

Yet the agency reassured the couple it was merely a “developmental delay,” Crystal explained. “And we were assured that this child was healthy and that in a good home … with the best doctors in America helping her with the developmental issues, that she should be fine.”

Come July, Crystal and Jesse journeyed to the orphanage in the small town of Borovichi. Crystal remembered her first meeting with Caralee: “She looked in my eyes very warmly, ‘You’re my mama.'”.

Following the adoption’s completion, Crystal started worrying about Caralee’s conduct. “We did see the anger, but it could be explained,” Crystal said. “Certainly a child arriving to a new culture, a new family …leaving her home. That’s the only thing she’s ever known.”

After moving to a new home in Georgia, Caralee reportedly began showing signs of withdrawal and anger, prompting Crystal to leave her job in an attempt to help.

On Boxing Day 1998, Crystal recounted a terrifying incident where Caralee’s rage seemingly hit its peak. As Caralee and her adopted brother Joshua were playing in the garden, Crystal heard her four-year-old son’s screams.

She claimed to have seen Caralee holding Joshua over the railing of their 30-foot-high deck. “Her face, there was anger and hate,” Crystal described. She demanded that Caralee put her brother down and questioned her actions.

Caralee said: “I’m gonna kill him.” “Why?'” Crystal asked her daughter. “‘I’m mad at him’… I said…’You don’t mean kill him.’ And she said, ‘yes, I do.'”

Caralee also confessed to her parents that she was hearing voices and experiencing hallucinations. As an adult, now known as Sabrina, she has confirmed this part of the story. Consequently, the couple admitted Caralee to a psychiatric hospital where she spent several months.

Crystal and Jesse received additional documents from the adoption agency detailing Caralee’s early childhood. According to Crystal, the documents described the birth mother as “amoral and antisocial. ” They also revealed that Caralee’s birth mother had left her “dirty, hungry and in rags.”

In the orphanage, Caralee was placed in a special ward – a fact that Crystal and Jesse claim the adoption agency failed to disclose prior to the adoption. Nina Kostina, who facilitated Caralee’s adoption, refuted any allegations of withholding information, explaining that Russian privacy laws limited the medical details she could provide.”

Once the parents are in the orphanage, they have access to any medical records, to the doctors,” Kostina clarified. “And this is their time to ask any questions. “

After a four-month hospital stay, Crystal and Jesse had to pull Caralee out as their insurance was running low. Jesse expressed their fear that she posed a threat to Joshua. He said: “She has repeated this for months on multiple occasions, ‘if I get another chance, I will kill him.”

Jesse installed CCTV cameras around the house and fitted an alarm on Caralee’s bedroom door. The strong medications prescribed to Caralee were reportedly ineffective, and with concerns remaining for Joshua’s safety, Crystal and Jesse decided to send him to his grandmother’s home in Texas.

“Why do we have to send him to grandma’s house to keep him safe?” Crystal questioned Caralee. “Because I may hurt him,” Caralee responded. Dr Brian Kennedy, a psychiatrist who assessed Caralee, diagnosed her with attachment disorder.

“She does love to smile and laugh,” Dr. Kennedy observed. “But I think when you look at what she’s been through and when you see how she functions under stress, she can become very different and have significant rage. “

Another psychiatrist held a different view, stating “Caralee’s behaviour … was impeccable,” and saw Jesse and Crystal as “too often cool and distant” towards their daughter.

By 1999, Crystal and Jesse made the decision to return her to the orphanage. “We cannot continue to be her parents,” Jesse declared. Caralee was sent back to Russia for treatment at a psychiatric facility.

Before being admitted, Caralee said: “I did not try to kill my brother,. I just tried … to pick him up … because he was too heavy … I love him. Mom and Daddy just don’t understand it.”

From her locked hospital ward, Caralee said: “I don’t feel safe here. I want to go back to America. I’m scared of staying here. “

The pair legally dissolved the adoption in early 2000 .Two decades on, now known as Sabrina, the young mum revealed her version of events.

She explained feeling that Joshua received preferential treatment and battled depression and suicidal thoughts. Then she made up a story: “I told Crystal, ‘You know, I’m seeing and hearing things,'” Sabrina said. “‘Cause I wanted out.”

Sabrina denied attempting to harm Joshua on the decking, insisting she was merely trying to help him down the steps – and attempted to clarify this to Crystal “And she was like, ‘No. You were trying to kill him.’ And she kept saying it. ” Sabrina said: “I finally said ‘yes'”.

Sabrina remembered discovering she would be returning to Russia: “Crystal said they were running out of options. And they think the Russian institute will be better.”

She remained in hospital for two months before Nina Kostina – the woman who had arranged her adoption – brought her back to the United States.

Sabrina was taken in by a fresh family in North Carolina in 2002, where she completed her High School education.

By 2008, Sabrina had volunteered with charity Mercy Ships, dedicating two years to a medical charity helping disadvantaged communities across Africa.

It was a rewarding experience,” she reflected. She began her career at a hospital in 2010, and two years later met fifth grade teacher Phil Caldwell at their local church. She said: “I fell in love with him when I saw him interact with kids.

“The couple wed in 2014 and welcomed three daughters and one son together.”Sabrina Caldwell said that today she is on no medication and experiences no mental health issues.

Heartbreakingly, Sabrina said: “I still have a high respect for them. Putting myself in their shoes, I would have probably done almost the same thing.”

But, there’s one thing Sabrina doesn’t agree with. She said: “I wouldn’t … take a child back. I learned to forgive my past,” she explained. “I have an amazing husband … I have amazing kids.

“But if I didn’t go through what I went through I wouldn’t have that.”