Kristine and Michael Barnett. Tippecanoe County Jail

Kristine and Michael Barnett have been charged with neglect of a dependent in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

They are accused of abandoning an 8-year-old Ukrainian girl they adopted named Natalia and moving to Canada with the rest of their family.

But Kristine Barnett says they were scammed in a situation eerily similar to the plot of the horror movie "Orphan," in which a mentally disturbed adult poses as an orphan who's taken in by a vulnerable family.

Natalia has dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, which makes her age difficult to accurately record without a birth certificate.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

An Indiana couple accused of abandoning an 8-year-old Ukrainian girl they adopted say she was actually a 22-year-old mentally disturbed woman.

After a five-year investigation, Kristine and Michael Barnett were charged last week with neglect of a dependent in Tippecanoe County; both are out on bond.

But Kristine Barnett says her family was scammed in a situation eerily similar to the plot of the horror movie "Orphan," in which a mentally disturbed adult poses as an orphan who's taken in by a vulnerable family.

Fox 59 and the Daily Mail reported that the Barnetts adopted a Ukrainian-born girl named Natalia in 2010. At the time, she was believed to be as young as 6 years old, according to the Daily Mail.

Prosecutors allege that nearly three years later, the couple legally changed the girl's age to 22 and left her in Indiana while moving the rest of their family to Canada, where their son, a child prodigy with mild autism who was featured in a "60 Minutes" segment, would pursue a graduate degree in theoretical physics, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier.

Kristine Barnett says Natalia terrorized her family

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Kristine Barnett said that the adoption was a scam and that the girl was not who they thought she was.

Kristine Barnett said that she and her now ex-husband agreed to an emergency adoption in Florida in 2010. She said they didn't know many details about Natalia's background but were told that her previous adoptive parents gave her up for undisclosed reasons.

Read more: A Chinese property heiress charged with murdering her ex at a California mansion says he was killed in botched kidnap plot

Kristine Barnett said that Natalia terrorized her family, tried to stab them while they were sleeping, once tried to push her toward an electric fence, and poured bleach in her coffee.

"The media is painting me to be a child abuser but there is no child here," she said.

"Natalia was a woman. She had periods. She had adult teeth. She never grew a single inch, which would happen even with a child with dwarfism. The doctors all confirmed she was suffering a severe psychological illness only diagnosed in adults."

It's difficult to record Natalia's age accurately without a birth certificate because of her condition

Natalia has a type of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, which makes her age difficult to accurately record without a birth certificate. Though she was said to be 6 when the Barnetts adopted her in 2010, NBC News said it saw hospital records showing her age as about 8 in June 2010.

Citing court documents, WISH-TV, an Indianapolis CW affiliate, reported that the girl's age was changed from 8 to 22 in 2012. It said a skeletal survey at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital deemed her to be 11 at the time.

But WLFI-TV, a CBS affiliate, obtained what appears to be an Indiana University Health report from 2016 that said Natalia was an adult. The document hasn't been verified but says that she had "made a career of perpetuating her age facade" and "continued to fool those who have the best intentions."

WISH-TV reported that the Barnetts put Natalia in an apartment in Lafayette in July 2013, then moved to Canada the following month. Kristine Barnett told the Daily Mail that she helped her get a Social Security number, apply for an ID, and get food stamps.

It's unclear how Natalia fended for herself in the years she was alone. An unnamed law-enforcement source told WLFI-TV that neighbors "took her under their wing."

Michael Barnett told officers that he and Kristine Barnett paid rent on the apartment but did not provide Natalia extra funds, The Washington Post said.

WISH-TV said it obtained court documents saying Natalia was evicted in May 2014 after not paying rent. She left no forwarding address but was found that September after a school principal grew concerned. Based on medical records, she would have been 12 or 13 at the time, but because the Barnetts had her age changed, she was legally in her mid-20s.

She told officers she had not seen the Barnetts since they moved to Canada, NBC News reported. It is unclear what Natalia is doing now, or whether she is being cared for.

NOW WATCH: Popular Videos from Insider Inc.