Robert Allen, Detroit Free Press

Attorney says Roksana Sikorski had %27horribly traumatic background%27

She%27s accused of stabbing her younger brother multiple times

When a Plymouth Township couple learned their 15-year-old daughter ran away with a 23-year-old Detroit man she'd met on Facebook, they pursued criminal charges against him.

Eleven weeks later, with three counts of criminal sexual conduct filed, Michael Angelo Rivera remained free -- until both he and the girl were arrested in a plot to kill her family, prosecutors said.

The girl, Roksana Sikorski, was arraigned Thursday on charges of stabbing her 12-year-old brother in the throat multiple times and four counts of conspiracy to commit murder. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said she was receiving instructions by text message from Rivera, who was outside the house during the incident at 2 a.m. Oct. 17 at the 12800 block of Glenmore Court.

Police said the alleged act was interrupted by the boy's screams, causing the teen and Rivera to flee. Sikorski and Rivera are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, assault with intent to murder and more. Sikorski is being charged as an adult.

"They're painting this like they're Bonnie and Clyde," said Leslie Posner, Sikorski's lawyer. "It makes me feel angry. It's like she's an animal."

The prosecutor's office announced Thursday that the sex-crime charges against Rivera will be dismissed Oct. 31 pending further investigation. The alleged sex crime was first reported July 30, according to the prosecutor's office.

Now Sikorski's parents are trying to make sense of how their daughter went from alleged victim to attempted-murder defendant. Posner blames an "evil, manipulative" boyfriend and reactive attachment disorder, a mental illness resulting from traumatic situations early in life.

Laurene and Jeffrey Sikorski, the parents, adopted Roksana and her younger brother and sister more than 10 years ago from a Polish orphanage. They said the children were all malnourished and had suffered abuse with their biological family before they were at the orphanage. The parents appeared at 35th District Court Thursday morning for the arraignment.

"She just thought this guy loved her, and she wanted to do whatever he told her. And she was very vulnerable, and she has a mental disorder and she needs help," Laurene Sikorski, 55, the girl's adoptive mother said. "We love our daughter."

The parents said they didn't know about Rivera until their daughter ran away with him in July. They took her phone away and tried to keep her off Facebook.

Judge James Plakas in 35th District Court set Sikorski's bond at $1 million and made an unusual exception of allowing the girl to have contact with two of the alleged victims: her parents.

"We have a very strong bond with our daughter," Laurene Sikorski said. "We'd like to be supportive at this time, and I think it's important that we do have contact with her."

Roksana Sikorski is prohibited from contacting her biological brother and sister, 12 and 11. The boy was hospitalized after the attack but has returned home and is recovering, Laurene Sikorski said.

Roksana Sikorski, a ninth-grader at Salem High School in Canton, was adopted at 4 1/2 years old. Her parents said they said they have no regrets about adopting them more than 10 years ago.

"They are my children; they pick up my mannerisms," Laurene Sikorski said. "You teach them as best you can... We go to church."

She said they want their daughter to receive treatment and eventually return home. She also said the girl has friends, and it was unexpected earlier this year when she began to act differently.

Roksana Sikorski and Michael Rivera are scheduled for preliminary examinations Oct. 31. Rivera faces four counts of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of assault with intent to murder and one count of felonious assault. Roksana Sikorski faces the same charges, plus using a computer to commit a crime.

Police caught Rivera and the girl together again in September but let them go, apparently because officers weren't aware of the previous incident, said Plymouth Township police Det. Charlie Rozum.

"It was at 2 a.m., a curfew violation for her," he said. "And I guess you always question why an adult is with a child that time of night. They (police) didn't feel anything was amiss at that time."

Rozum said police didn't receive the a criminal-sexual-conduct warrant against Rivera from prosecutors until Oct. 17, the same day as the stabbing. It's unclear why there was a delay.

Prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller said in an email that prosecutors received the case Sept. 1, and the warrant was faxed to police Sept. 26.

"From there, we do not know what happened because it was not in the court system," according to Miller.

She said the warrant was re-sent Oct. 17 after police told prosecutors they hadn't received it.

Contact Robert Allen at rallen@freepress.com or www.twitter.com/rallenMI