WASHINGTON, January 8 (Itar-Tass) - U.S. naval officer Matthew Sweeney, 39, and his 41-year-old wife Amy Sweeney will face trial in the United States on charges of abuse of their son whom the couple had adopted from Russia.
The adoptive family resides in Bristow, Virginia. The boy, Daniil Kruchin, who was born in Tula, Russia, was adopted in 2006 and received a new name, Daniel Alexander Sweeney.
The boy ran away from his home last summer. His neighbors took him to a police station. The police examined him and found traces of severe beatings on his body. They suspected the adoptive parents of beating their adopted son regularly. Matthew and Amy Sweeney were arrested on charges of child abuse on July 18 last year. However, they were released from jail on bail of 20 thousand dollars for each person.
US social services are taking care of the boy.
The Sweeneys have five more children of their own. They are likely to face charges of committing a grave crime. If convicted, the couple will either be sentenced to a huge fine or to several years in prison.
This is not the first case of abuse of a Russian child by adoptive parents in the United States. Nineteen children adopted from Russia have been killed by their American parents over the past two decades.
Late last year, Russia passed a law that forbids American citizens to adopt children in Russia.