Natalia Grace, Accused of Being 'Sociopath' by Adoptive Parents, Says Allegations Are 'Not True'

Natalia Grace, an orphan from the Ukraine who was accused of pretending to be a 6-year-old girl by her adoptive parents, is telling her side of the story.

In an exclusive clip obtained by Entertainment Tonight this week, Natalia addresses the allegations made public by Michael and Kristine Barnett, an Indiana couple who have claimed Natalia, who has a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal, is a "sociopath" and a "con artist" who is actually an adult woman with sinister intentions.

"This is my side of the story, and I'm going to say what happened because I never got a chance to say what happened," Natalia says in the one-minute clip, which is a preview of what will be featured in an upcoming two-hour Investigation Discovery (ID) documentary, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks.

“I’m hearing all this stuff that never actually happened from Kristine and Michael,” Natalia continues. “It’s shocking and it’s frustrating because that’s not true. And, people are believing what Kristine and Michael are saying without even hearing my side.”

The Barnetts, who adopted Natalia from the Ukraine in 2010 believing she was a 6-year-old orphan, claimed she was an adult masquerading as a child when they took her in. They allege Natalia tried to harm them and their biological children during the two years she lived with her adoptive family.

Natalia was accused of trying to poison Kristine's coffee and kill her by dragging her towards an electric fence. Natalia was also accused of placing clear thumb tacks on the stairs face up so that they would step on them.

In 2012, the couple petitioned Marion County Probate Court to have her age legally changed to 22, changing her birth year from 2003 to 1989. 

The following year, Michael and Kristine Barnett moved with their three sons to Canada without her, leaving her alone in an apartment in Lafayette, Ind.

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The Barnetts, who later divorced, were charged with neglect of a dependent. Prosecutors couldn't charge the couple with neglect of a child because of Natalie's court-ordered age change.

Michael was found not guilty of three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent in 2022, while Kristine’s charges were dropped earlier this year, according to the Associated Press and WTHR.

The bizarre tale of Natalia's adoption-gone-wrong is also featured in a three-part docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, which debuted on ID beginning May 29. 

Natalia Speaks is a follow-up documentary to The Curious Case of Natalia Grace. It is set to air on ID later this summer.