The charges were brought by the man's ex-wife, who is a Russian citizen. His family says he is innocent of the charges, which were already dismissed in an American court three years ago.
David Barnes has been held in a Russian jail since January on charges of molesting his two sons in the U.S. But family members say he is innocent and they fear for his safety. Carol Barnes says she gets perhaps three hours of sleep a night, jolted awake by fears for her brother’s David’s safety in Russia.
“I’m OK, always tired, as you can imagine, being imprisoned with 7 other men, 24/7 is so tough,” he wrote in a letter dated July 12. “Sleep, eat, laugh, cry.”The charges were brought by his ex-wife, Svetlana, a Russian citizen. The Biden administration has classified Griner, who pleaded guilty this month, as wrongfully detained.
The couple divorced in 2015, followed by a messy child custody case. During divorce proceedings, Svetlana made allegations of sexual abuse against David, which were investigated and found “not credible,” according to Kelly Blackburn, an assistant district attorney with the Montgomery County D.A.’s office. No charges were ever filed against him.
Aaron said she, her sister, her father and stepmother were last with David Barnes back in 2019, when the family reunited in Texas during the trial. The court awarded Barnes joint custody of the children. It was a happy, hopeful time as David prepared to be reunited with his sons. “We didn’t know what he would do,” Aaron said. “We wondered, how is he going to handle this? He immediately went into action and did everything he could think of to get his kids back. He has not stopped. He didn’t give up. He didn’t crawl in a hole. He has been fighting, because he loves his kids so much.”
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