Shelbyville woman puts adopted Russian son on plane with note

Russia's foreign minister urged Friday that child adoptions to the U.S. be frozen after a Shelbyville woman put a young Russian boy she had adopted on a one-way flight back to his homeland unaccompanied.

Artyom Savelyev, who carried the adoptive name Justin Hansen, got off a flight from Washington on Thursday at a Moscow airport, the Kremlin children's rights office said Friday. The boy was listed as 7 years old by some media outlets and 8 by others.

The office said he was carrying a letter from his adoptive parent, Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, saying she was returning him due to severe psychological problems.

"This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues," the letter said, according to Russian officials, who sent what they said was a copy to The Associated Press.

A check of state property assessment listings indicated six different sites in Bedford County with Torry Hansen as a co-owner. The Times-Gazette was unable to reach her for comment by press time today. No one answered the door at either of two houses on U.S. 41-A believed to be Hansen's. The only phone number listed in that name returned a "disconnected, no longer in service" message.

The web site for the British newspaper The Daily Mail initally identified Hansen as a 26-year-old nurse but later corrected that and said she is 34. Torry Ann Hansen is listed as a licensed registered nurse in Shelbyville, according to the Tennessee Department of Health's Web site. No work address is listed. Her name appears in a list of August 2007 graduates from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, with a Masters of Science in Nursing degree.

Heritage Medical Center confirmed this morning that they have no nurse by that name.

A neighbor, Harry Bailey, told the Times-Gazette that he had seen sheriff's vehicles at the site on Thursday.

Sheriff Randall Boyce confirmed that the department had been at Hansen's home on Thursday and said the department was scheduled to speak with her today. He said he could not comment further at this time.

Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, said the agency is looking into Friday's allegations, although they do not handle international adoptions.

The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle, said he was "deeply shocked by the news" and "very angry that any family would act so callously toward a child that they had legally adopted."

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying the ministry would recommend that the U.S. and Russia hammer out an agreement before any new adoptions are allowed.

"We have taken the decision ... to suggest a freeze on any adoptions to American families until Russia and the USA sign an international agreement" on the conditions for adoptions and the obligations of host families, Lavrov was quoted as saying.

Lavrov said the U.S. had refused to negotiate such an accord in the past but "the recent event was the last straw."

The Daily Mail site published a photo of what it said was the letter, which read as follows:

"To Whom It May Concern:

"I adopted this child, Artem Saveliev on September 29, 2009. This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psycopathic issues/behaviors. I was lied to and misled by the Russian Orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability and other issues. The orphananage employees were definitely aware of the major problems that this child has. Yet, they chose to grossly misrepresent those problems, in order to get him out of their orphanage.

"After giving my best to this child, I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends, and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child. As he is a Russian National, I am returning him to your guardianship and would like the adoption disannulled.

"Sincerely, Torry Hansen."

According to The Daily Mail, Russian authorities were sharply critical of Hansen and denied the U.S. consul access to the boy.

The Moscow News reported that Hansen spent only four days getting to know the boy before the adoption and reported that the adoption took place six months ago. The newspaper reported that Artyom and Hansen's 10-year-old biological child were homeschooled.

Last year, nearly 1,600 Russian children were adopted in the United States, according to Tatyana Yakovleva of the ruling United Russia party.

United Airlines allows unaccompanied children as young as 5 years old on direct flights. Children age 8 and above can catch connecting flights, as well.