A U.S. woman who poured hot sauce into her adopted Russian son’s mouth to appear on a U.S. TV show has been convicted of child abuse.
Jessica Beagley faces up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $10,000 when she is handed her sentence next week.
Last year, a U.S. TV show showed video footage of Beagley pouring hot sauce into the seven-year-old’s mouth and forcing him into a cold shower.
The court in Alaska said Beagley had recorded the video because she wanted to get on the Doctor Phil TV show.
Her lawyers said the boy, Daniil Bukharov (aka Chris Beagley), had behavioral problems.
“It is our feeling Jessica was doing the best she could,” the BBC quoted defense lawyer William Ingaldson as saying. “This is a very good, loving family.”
Beagley and her husband Gary have four biological children.
Russia suspended adoptions by U.S. families after a Tennessee woman sent her 7-year-old adoptive son back to Russia last year. He was put on a plane on his own with a note from the woman saying she did not want him as he was “psychotic.”
Russia’s children rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said in January that 17 Russian children have died in the United States as a result of child abuse since the adoptions began more than 15 years ago.
The latest official figures show that about 60,000 children born in Russia have been adopted by families in the United States.