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Moscow demands U.S. explanation over child abuse case

27 September 2012 01:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russia demands explanation from the United States over a child abuse case involving a Russian boy adopted by an American family, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The boy, named Maxim Babayev, was adopted by a U.S. couple who were arrested in 2011 in Florida for alleged child abuse. A local court later withdrew all charges and released the foster parents.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry is seriously concerned with the information that the underage Maxim Babayev adopted from Russia was abused in his American foster family of Shed and Christy Tailors," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a release posted on the ministry’s website.

Russia demands "thorough explanations and sooner finding of Babayev’s whereabouts" in order to arrange a consular meeting with the boy, Zakharova said.

The Russian government would do its best to protect the boy’s rights and interests, and is going to raise the issue during the Russia-U.S. consultations currently underway in Moscow, said the release.

It noted that the Florida custody and judicial services refused to disclose any information to Russian diplomats about Babayev’s fate, and that the U.S. State Department did not notify the Russian Embassy in Washington about the incident.

Zakharova did not reveal the exact age of the boy, just calling him a minor in the release.

Russia ratified an agreement with the United States on child adoption cooperation in July 2012.