- The story of Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian orphan at the center of an adoption scandal in Indiana, went viral in September.
- Her former adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett were charged with neglect, five years after they moved to Canada in 2013, leaving the Natalia behind.
- Kristine Barnett told Daily Mail Online that Natalia, who has a rare form of dwarfism, is actually a mentally disturbed adult woman who terrorized her family.
- Natalia is now living with another family in Indiana.
- The story behind Natalia's real age and origin remains unclear. And while Natalia's case is still ongoing, several adults before her have been caught pretending to be minors.
- Here are the stories behind eight adults who posed as minors.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
No one knows the exact age of Natalia Grace, the Ukrainian orphan at the center of an adoption scandal in Indiana.
Natalia, who has a rare form of dwarfism that makes it difficult to gauge her age, was thought to be somewhere between 6 and 8 years old when she was adopted in 2010 by Michael and Kristine Barnett. But the Barnetts changed her age from 8 to 22 in 2012, saying they believed their adopted child was actually an adult.
Natalia's story went viral in September after her former adoptive parents were charged with neglect following a 5-year investigation into the case.
Kristine Barnett told Daily Mail Online that Natalia is actually a mentally disturbed adult woman who terrorized her family until they moved to Canada in 2013, leaving the orphan behind. Natalia is now living with another family in Indiana.
The story behind Natalia's real age and origin remains unclear. Natalia's case is ongoing, but the idea of an adult pretending to be a child is not unprecedented. Several adults before her have attempted to impersonate minors, for a variety of reasons.
Here are the stories behind eight adults who posed as children.
Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley, 25, posed as a high school student to relive his basketball glory.
Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley posed as a 17-year-old Hurricane Harvey refugee to play basketball at Hillcrest High School in Dallas, Texas, in 2017 and 2018, according to the Dallas Morning News. He also reportedly dated a 14-year-old girl while posing as a student.
In reality, Gilstrap-Portley was a 25-year-old man who played basketball for North Mesquite High School in a Dallas suburb before graduating in 2011.
His cover was blown in May 2018 after a North Mesquite coach recognized him at a tournament.
Gilstrap-Portley pleaded guilty to posing as a student and received six years' probation for indecency with a child and record tampering, according to the New York Post.
Gilstrap-Portley's father told WFAA-TV in Dallas that his son, who had a a fiancée and a young child, wanted a fresh start in life.
"He made errors. There was no ill-intent," Sidney Portley said. "We apologize for that happening. It was mis-channeled determination. His passion is basketball. He tried to push 'rewind' in his life."
Charity Johnson, 34, posed as a high school sophomore for nearly an entire school year before she was caught. She said she was looking to be loved.
A 34-year-old Texas woman posed as a high school sophomore for nearly an entire school year between 2013 and 2014.
Charity Anne Johnson was sentenced to 85 days in prison in 2014.
She had enrolled at New Life Christian School in Longview, Texas, in October 2013, and led people to believe she was a teenager for seven months, according to ABC News.
She was arrested in June 2014 when she provided a fake ID to police, KFOR reported.
She told officials that her family abandoned her, and that she was just looking for love.
"I'm just a normal person like any other normal person, trying to pursue her education, get her education and make it through life and be a better person," she said, according to KFOR.
A 23-year-old Ukrainian man named Artur Samarin posed as a teenager after his visa ran out. Then he impressed teachers with a 4.16 GPA.
A 23-year-old Ukrainian man posed as a teenager to enroll at John Harris High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 2012.
Artur Samarin, who later admitted to the ploy and was sentenced to two months in prison, used the name Asher Potts to enroll in school, according to ABC News.
Police said at the time that he had remained in the US after his visa expired, and obtained a Social Security Number and a passport under his fictitious identity.
While in school, he impressed teachers with his 4.16 grade-point average and he even joined the school's ROTC program, the Washington Post reported.
It remains unclear how officials discovered he was using a false identity.
He was charged with passport and social security frauds.
Brian Michael Rini, 24, told officials he was missing teen Timmothy Pitzen, who disappeared in 2011.
Brian Michael Rini, 24, told officials in April that he was Timmothy Pitzen, a boy who went missing from a Chicago suburb in 2011, aged 6.
Rini told officials that he was 14, and that he was Pitzen. Police say that Rini told authorities in Newport, Kentucky, that he escaped kidnappers in Ohio and that he had gone missing eight years ago following his mother's suicide.
The man's identity was released after the FBI said that DNA test results confirmed the person was not Timmothy.
The motive behind Rini's decision remains unclear. Pitzen's whereabouts are still unknown.
Frédéric Bourdin, a 23-year-old Frenchman, convinced an American family he was their missing 16-year-old son.
Frenchman Frédéric Bourdin told an American family that he was their son, Nicholas Barclay, who at 13 years old disappeared near his home in San Antonio, Texas, in 1994.
Bourdin approached officials in Linares, Spain, three and a half years after Barclay's disappearance saying he was the teen. He said he had been abducted, flown to Europe, and abused in a pedophile ring before escaping, according to The Telegraph. Barclay's relatives then flew to Spain and took him back to the US.
Bourdin was 23 at the time, and fooled not only the Barclay family but also Spanish authorities and the US consulate, despite not matching Barclay's appearance. A documentary about Bourdin and the Barclays called "The Imposter" intimates that the family had ulterior motives for accepting them as their son.
His ruse was revealed after an investigator for the TV show "Hard Copy" interviewed Bourdin for a story.
Bourdin served six years in prison for the deception, TIME reported. He's known in France as "The Chameleon" and his numerous scams were once detailed by The New Yorker.
Guerdwich Montimere, 21, posed as a 16-year-old Haitian orphan to play basketball in Texas.
Guerdwich Montimere spent two years in prison after posing as a teenaged Haitian orphan to play basketball in Texas.
Montimere went by the name Jerry Joseph in order to play on a basketball team at Odessa Permian High School in 2009. By 2010 he was gaining traction as a promising prospect for college ball, Yahoo News reported.
In reality, Montimere had graduated from a high school in Ft. Lauderdale years earlier. It's unclear how he ended up in Texas.
Upon enrolling at Permian, he was taken in by the school's head basketball coach Danny Wright, who let him stay at his home.
Montimere story came crashing down when his previous coaches noticed him at a basketball tournament in Arkansas, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Tips were then sent to Odessa, and an investigation was launched.
In addition to falsifying documents, Montimere was charged with having sex with a 15-year-old girl who he thought was 16, the Odessa American reported.
Montimere was released from prison in 2013.
Taylor Markeith Smith, 22, was accused of posing as a teen football player at 13 different schools.
Taylor Markeith Smith, 22, posed as a teenager to play high school football at 13 different schools across Texas, officials said in 2011.
The current status of his case is unknown, but officials said at the time that Smith solicited schools in Dallas, Garland, and Richardson using different identities to try to enroll and play football, according to NBC News DFW.
"He met the eye test — let's put it that way," Jim Ledford, who was a football coach at Berkner High School in Richardson in 2011, told NBC News DFW at the time. "As a coach, you see a kid walk in and he's 6-foot-5, 220. Your eyes light up and automatically think defensive end, tight end."
He said that Smith told him he was 16 when he tried to enroll in 2008. He had said his parents were dead.
Some schools let Smith play, and one school said Smith brought someone who posed as a district caseworker when he tried to enroll.
Smith would always disappear before officials realized he was actually an adult, Yahoo News reported.
Michaelann Goodrich, 32, posed as a homeless 15-year-old to enroll in high school in upstate New York.
Michaelann Goodrich, 32, posed as a homeless 15-year-old to enroll in classes at a high school in upstate New York in 2018.
Goodrich was arrested in December 2018 in Cairo, New York, the Green County Sheriff's Office said in a statement in January.
Goodrich told Cairo-Durham School District administrators that she was a homeless teen named Rowley Madison and enrolled in classes on December 20, sheriff's department officials said at the time.
Goodrich, who already has a high school diploma, rode the bus to and from Cairo-Durham High School that day, but was absent the following day, police said.
The district's winter break then started, and District Superintendent Anthony Taibi said administrators alerted police that something seemed suspicious.
Greene County Sheriff's Department officials still don't know why Goodrich lied about her age. She was convicted of the felony of falsifying business records in May, the Daily Freeman reported.
Read the original article on INSIDER. Copyright 2019.Follow INSIDER on Facebook.
Follow INSIDER on Twitter.ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonypsdGeZJqqlWKForDUpausZaedvG7DxKucZpuRqrSpwIyppqyhnpx6or%2BMnJ%2BipJSnsq95kWlocmVhZQ%3D%3D