WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A deputy prosecutor in the US state of Georgia has admitted having lingered in the investigation into the rape of an adopted Russian teenage girl by her foster father.
"Due to a variety of legal issues in the case, the matter has taken an unusually long time to be resolved. It is our hope that the victim will now finally be able to move forward with her life, putting these awful events behind her,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Rachelle Carnesale in the Chrokee County, Georgia, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
“Our laws prohibit me from commenting on any treatment she has been receiving, but our office has been in close contact with the victim and she approved the plea agreement prior to the entry of Mr. Grismore's plea. In a case such as this, our preference is always to see perpetrators removed from society for as long as possible," the attorney said.
On Monday, a US court handed a cumulative 10-year sentence to Michael Grismore for the rape of his underaged adopted Russian daughter. He will only serve three years in prison, while the remaining seven years will be a suspended sentence.
The Russian Foreign Ministry lauded the court’s ruling, which it said set a precedent for US authorities bringing molesters of adopted Russian children to justice.
Adoptions have become a thorny issue in US-Russia relations following a series of scandals, including the uproar surrounding a seven-year-old boy who was sent back to Russia unaccompanied in 2010 by an adoptive US mother.
