A Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced a 65-year-old American man to 21 years in prison for sexually abusing his sons when they lived in the United States.
“The Savyolovsky court of Moscow sentenced 65-year-old U.S. citizen David Thomas Barnes to 21 years in a penal colony, finding him guilty of sexually abusing his own children,” the court said on social media.
Barnes was engaged in a legal dispute with his Russian ex-wife over the custody of the boys.
Russian prosecutors accused him of sexually abusing the two boys between 2014 and 2018 when they lived in Texas and both were less than six years old.
The Texan was detained in Moscow in January 2022.
Russian media said Barnes’s ex-wife accused him of sexually abusing their two sons several years ago while living in the United States.
His family has told U.S. media that he is innocent and his ex-wife took their children to Russia without his consent.
