Girls Were Hit on Flight, Attendants Say
Girls Were Hit on Flight, Attendants Say
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
In damaging testimony against the Arizona couple who are accused of beating their newly adopted Russian daughters on a flight from Moscow to New York, two flight attendants said yesterday that the mother screamed at and repeatedly slapped one of the girls and beat the sobbing child over the head with metal eating utensils.
''It was physically violent, and it was shocking to me,'' one of the flight attendants testified at the trial in Family Court in Queens. The trial, which began on July 3, will determine whether the couple should regain custody of the girls, who have been in foster care since the May 28 incident.
The couple, Richard and Karen Thorne, were arrested on arrival in New York that day after the flight attendants and several passengers said they observed the two screaming at the children and striking them. At least seven passengers missed their connecting flights to make sure the Thornes were taken into custody.
During testimony yesterday, the attendant, whose name was ordered withheld by the judge, said that, typically, the flight home for parents and their newly adopted children is difficult, and because the children tend to be hyperactive, the parents ''swat them on the behind, tug the arm -- that's normal.'' But, she said, the behavior on Delta Air Lines Flight 31 from Moscow was not normal.
But defense lawyers, during cross-examination, suggested that since no one tried to separate the girls from the couple, the parents could not have been too abusive.
Also, a city case worker said during cross-examination yesterday that medical evaluations of the girls after the flight found no bruises or signs of physical abuse.
As witnesses described the scene, the chief problem seemed to be between Mrs. Thorne, 42, and the smaller of the two 4-year-old girls. The girl was described as reaching out to strangers but crying and screaming almost all the time she was with her new mother on the 10-hour flight.
The other flight attendant, Brenda Cruz, said the girl had been sitting in her lap and started to scream when it was time to return to her mother. ''You could see the fear in her face,'' said Ms. Cruz, who has been a flight attendant for 10 years.
Her co-worker said she bribed the girl to return to her seat by giving her candy. The flight attendant's name is being withheld as a condition set by Judge Joseph Lauria for allowing reporters inside the usually closed proceedings; Ms. Cruz's name had already been made public in a police report.
Ms. Cruz's co-worker also said that she heard Mr. Thorne, 48, who was sitting behind his wife with the other girl, ''yelling so loud'' that she suggested to him that if he spoke softly, and used some soothing Russian words, which she supplied, the girl would calm down. But, she said, ''He looked at me very sternly'' and did not take her advice.
About one hour and 45 minutes before the plane landed, the same flight attendant said that she saw Mrs. Thorne beat the screaming girl on the head four times with a pack of metal eating utensils. She was not certain at that time what was in the clear plastic pack, but she said it was more than just a napkin because it was stiff.
At that point, she reported the incident to her superior and to the captain. When she returned with the captain, she said, she told Mrs. Thorne that she understood she was probably ''stressed out'' and that she should get some water, take a walk and ''get some fresh air'' -- a suggestion that Harvey Jacobs, a defense lawyer, ridiculed since the plane was at 30,000 feet.
The flight attendant said that Mrs. Thorne's response was to suggest that she had not gone ''all the way to Russia'' just to get a child to abuse. The flight attendant said that Mrs. Thorne complained that each time she tried to get close to the girl, someone would come along who spoke Russian, ''preventing them from bonding with the kids.'' But, the flight attendant said, Mrs. Thorne had initially sought her out because she spoke Russian.
The flight attendant added, ''I didn't see, really, any compassion.''
Later, about one hour before landing, Ms. Cruz said, Mrs. Thorne was screaming ''Shut up'' to the girl and pulling her elbow ''with extreme force'' to get her to sit down. She said the mother then slapped the girl ''repeatedly,'' administering ''four or five striking blows'' around the head and upper body, and that the girl raised her hands and cowered. Mrs. Thorne then hit the girl in the back of the knees to make her fall down into the seat, Ms. Cruz said.
Cheryl Solomon, a lawyer for Mr. Thorne, said outside the courtroom that the defense had a signed affidavit from another flight attendant, who also speaks Russian, contending that the Thornes acted appropriately and that there was no abuse.
Often, newly adopted children, especially those who have been in institutions all their lives, as these girls have been, become out of control and cry on the airplane trip back to the United States. And new parents find themselves trying all sorts of tactics to calm the children. But this is the first time that officials have seen the parents' actions lead to their arrest.
When the plane landed, the Thornes were charged with assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of their children. They face those charges at a separate criminal trial, which is scheduled to resume on Sept. 15.
Judge Lauria adjourned the case until July 30.
Mrs. Thorne told reporters outside the courthouse, ''It was hard to hear that stuff.'' But, she said, none of it was true and she and her husband were ''still confident things are going to end up going our way.''