A COUPLE in the United States “exiled” their misbehaving teenage daughter to the depths of Siberia three years ago, in a bizarre case that has captivated internet onlookers.

Sofia Roberts was just 15-years-old when she arrived in the notorious country, convinced she was on a brief holiday to meet her estranged biological father.

But it was all a ruse. Back in Virginia, her mother Natalia and stepfather Jim Roberts delivered the grim news that she was to stay in Siberia until her behaviour improved.

Her wild ways had included bringing boys home, taking drugs, skipping school, running away from home and stealing money, according to her mother.

The tough lesson soon became a nightmare when Sofia said her alcoholic and aggressive birth father began beating her and withholding food.

Despite not speaking Russian and having no money, she fled and eventually wound up in the town of Berdsk, where she lived and worked in a hostel to cover the cost of her room.

For the next three years, her hard line parents insisted Sofia was yet to learn the error of her ways and refused to let her come home.

That was despite reports the youngster was suffering deep depression, tried to take her own life and had very little money to get by.

“I want to come home,” Sofia wrote to her mother late last year. “To come back to you. I ask you one more time, please take me back. Please find it in your heart to forgive my mistakes that I made as a pre-teen.”

Sofia was born in Russia but moved to the American state of Virginia with her mother and sister when she was two.

As well as playing out in local media, the girl’s saga was chronicled via Facebook where she issued frequent emotional pleas for her family to take her back.

“I want to graduate from an American high school (and) I want to do it quickly, to finish it within two years,” she wrote last year.

Despite supporting herself in extreme conditions far from home, her stepfather remained unmoved and in a harsh message on her Facebook profile last year indicated that her exile is far from over.

“Sofia, from the time that you went to Russia, we have told you that it will be very simple for you to return.

“Recognise that the path you were going down would end badly for you and try to change it. That’s all. We told you that trying other ways would not work for you.

“You have not tried the one thing that will bring you back, but you continue to try others.”

The now 18-year-old’s bizarre story had a recent happy twist when Sofia moved to the Moroccan city of Casablanca to live with her mother’s ex-boyfriend.

The man who she says was always like a father to her has welcomed Sofia with open arms and made her part of his family.

A few weeks ago, she and her mother had a very heated public exchange on a Siberian news website, after revelations that Sofia was planning to write a book about her experiences.

After blasting her daughter for not keeping details of her life private, Natalia said: “I wish you all the best and I forgive you for bringing so much pain to my family and me.”

In reply, Sofia said she made no apologies for wanting to share her remarkable tale.

“I’m not asking for your forgiveness though. Nothing I did was worth three and a half years of the misery that I was put through. Shame on you.”