MOSCOW, August 1 - RAPSI, Ingrid Burke. American foster parents Kathleen and Martin O'Brien were formally charged Tuesday with 17 counts of child abuse and disorderly conduct for the severe and protracted mistreatment of their adopted children, most of who were born in Russia. The child abuse charges - Class H felonies - carry a sentence of up to six years in prison each, or a fine of up to $10,000 each. The disorderly conduct charges are misdemeanors.

According to local news source Walworth County Today, the defendants filed a motion during their arraignment hearing Tuesday to replace the judge presiding over their case. The motion was granted and the arraignment will be continued with a new judge. The date of the continued proceeding is unknown as of yet. It was reported by a local MSNBC news outlet that Kathleen O'Brien changed out her prior defense attorney for a new one. RAPSI has been unsuccessful so far in reaching either the prosecutorial or defense teams for comment.

The couple is said to have taken a shockingly wide range of physically and emotionally abusive actions against their children between 2004 and 2011. A report dated May 16 and submitted by Walworth County Assistant District Attorney Diane Donohoo details the children's disturbing accounts of the actions that gave rise to these charges.
Of the 17 total charges, Kathleen has been charged with four counts of child abuse and eight counts of disorderly conduct. Martin has been charged with six counts of child abuse and six counts of disorderly conduct. Some of the charges have been filed against them jointly.

Kathleen and Martin were charged jointly for the following count of child abuse: An adopted child was forced to undress. While naked, Kathleen held his arms behind his back while Martin prepared to punch him. At first, the adopted child escaped. But he was then caught and held in place by Martin and one of the couple's biological children as Kathleen kicked him in the groin and then sprayed pepper spray on his face, neck, and chest.

Martin alone is alleged to have committed the following counts of child abuse: sitting on top of an adopted child and punching him in the face; picking a kindergarten-aged child up by the neck and holding him in place to the point that the child experienced facial discoloration and difficulty breathing; placing a bucket on an adopted child's head and then striking it with a large stick; kneeing an adopted child in the genitals; placing an adopted child in a small red bin and then beating the bin near the child's head with a log, causing the child's head to swell; and hitting a child in the chest with a flashlight so hard that the child experienced pain and numbness.

Kathleen alone is alleged to have committed the following counts of child abuse: after catching an adopted child with a pocket knife, using the knife to stab the child in the hand; lifting an adopted child up by the child's ear, causing the ear to tear and bleed; and as punishment for stealing a pudding cup, hitting an adopted child's hand with a ruler so hard that the ruler broke and the hand swelled.

The couple has been charged jointly with the following counts of disorderly conduct: Kathleen slapped an adopted child in the face and Martin slammed the door on the child's foot. On numerous occasions, the couple forced the adopted children to stand naked on a porch and watch the couple and their biological children eat dinner. The couple forced all of their adopted children to sit naked outside of the house on metal trash cans for 15 minutes. For 4-5 days in a row, the couple locked their adopted children in a room inside the house. The children were allowed out of the room to use the restroom about three times a day. The rest of the time they were required to use a bucket inside the room as a toilet. The couple forced their adopted children to kneel on sharp rocks for 6-7 hours. The couple verbally abused their adopted children. As a punishment for lying, the couple often slapped their children as many times as the children were years old.

Kathleen alone has been charged with the following counts of disorderly conduct: forcing the children to eat frozen bread off the floor as a punishment for stealing food, and forcing a child to stand barefoot in the snow until the child's feet became discolored and swollen.

This is the latest in a series of disturbing accounts of the abuse of adopted Russian children at the hands of their US foster parents. According to RIA Novosti, Russian officials have reported that more than 19 adopted Russian children have been killed as a result of abusive foster parents since adoptions between the two countries became were legalized in the 1990s.