The case of Dima Yakovlev

Dima Yakovlev, born in 2006, was placed in the Pskov Regional Orphanage for children with organic lesions of the central nervous system with mental disorders, located in the town of Pechory, Pskov Region. ^[4] His mother, who herself was brought up in an orphanage, gave written consent to a possible adoption. There have been repeated attempts to arrange a child in a Russian family. On February 21, 2008, by the decision of the Pskov Regional Court, Dima Yakovlev was adopted by spouses Miles Harrison and Carol Lynn Exmann-Harrison (USA), who made three trips to Russia to adopt a child ^[2] . Miles Harrison is the Executive Director of the Project Solutions Group Consulting Firm in Herndon ( Herndon , Virginia ).

At the end of 2012, information appeared in the Russian media according to which the relatives of Dima Yakovleva claimed that they tried to receive custody of the child during the adoption procedures, but they were refused ^[5] .

On December 25, 2012, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced the beginning of a pre-investigative check according to media reports about an obstacle to receiving custody of Dima Yakovlev by his relatives ^[6] .

According to media reports, violations were committed during adoption ^{[5] [7] [8]} . Graphologists confirmed the fact that the signature of Dima Yakovlev’s grandmother on documents refusing adoption was falsified ^[9] .

On July 8, 2008 , at the age of 21 months, Dima died as a result of being left by Miles Harrison for 9 hours in a closed GMC Yukon car in 32-degree heat ^[10] . Miles Harrison put Dima in the backseat of a car at home in Purserville , Virginia , Virginia, and then parked at his work in Herndon, (about 40 km from Purserville), making sure he left his son in the KinderCare nursery in Ashburn. on the way. ^[11] According to meteorologists, with a 32-degree heat, the temperature inside a closed car can reach 54 degrees ^[2] . During the investigation, Miles Harrison said that he was supposed to bring the child to kindergarten, but since he was in a hurry to work, he forgot about it ^[12] .

Under American law, his foster father, Miles Harrison, could face up to 10 years in prison for manslaughter ^{[13] [14]} , but on December 17 he was acquitted by an American court. ^[eleven]

Later, the media reported on several courts in similar cases in the United States, in which parents who left their children in child seats in the back seats of cars were acquitted, sometimes courts were not appointed at all ^[11] . In total, from 1998 to 2014, 629 children died from heat stroke in a closed car in the United States ^[15] . In less than half of the cases, a lawsuit was instituted, and in less than a quarter of the cases, the decision of the court was imprisonment (as of 2007). ^[sixteen]

In February 2009, Miles Harrison said in an interview with The Washington Post ^[11] :

I pray the Russian people for forgiveness. There are good people in this country who deserve children, and there are children in Russia who need parents. Please do not punish everyone for my mistake.

Original text

I pray for forgiveness from the Russian people. There are good people in this country who deserve children, and there are children in Russia who need parents. Please don't punish everyone for my mistake.

The decision of the American court in the case of Dima Yakovlev provoked a stormy reaction in the Russian media and the government. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation through its diplomats tried to secure a review of the acquittal. On December 30, 2008, the Investigative Committee at the Russian Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal case in order to ascertain the circumstances of the death of the child, as well as confirm the fact of the legitimacy of his adoption ^[17] . The Investigative Committee said: “It was established that one and a half year-old Dima Yakovlev died on July 8, 2008, when his adoptive father Miles Harrison left the boy locked in the car for 9 hours in a 50-degree heat. The child was adopted in Russia three months before the tragedy ” ^[18] .

At the end of 2012, draft law No. 186614-6 (often called the “response to Magnitsky’s law ”) was introduced to the State Duma in Russia, one of the amendments to which prohibited US citizens from adopting Russian children. The party United Russia was proposed to name the law in memory of Dima Yakovlev. Deputy Vyacheslav Nikonov proposed devoting the law to the memory of all adopted children from Russia who died in the USA. ^[19] On December 28, 2012 the law was signed by President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin and entered into force on January 1, 2013 ^{[20] [21]} .

The famous pediatrician and surgeon, president of the National Medical Chamber of Russia, Leonid Roshal, proposed the installation of a “people's monument to Dima Yakovlev” in Moscow. According to L. Roshal, a child who died several years ago “saves us of childless children” ^[22] .

In Russia, there is a similar problem, which resulted in the creation of the website of the President of the Russian Federation for the Rights of the Child of the non-Parkuyreben.rf .

• Ivan Skorobogatov
• The case of Artyom Savelyev
• The Case of Maxim Kuzmin
• International adoption
• “ Federal Law of December 28, 2012 No. 272-FZ ” (“The Law of Dima Yakovlev”)
• List of deceased minors adopted in the USA from Russia

• July 8, 2008 as a result of a tragic incident in the United States, a child adopted in Russia died , press release of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, July 14 , 2008 .
• Russian Furor Over US Adoptions Follows American's Acquittal in Boy's Death // New York Times 01/03/2009.