Natalia Grace‘s accusations of child neglect against her adoptive family resulted in a high-profile trial — but where are the key players from the scandal now?
Grace was originally born in Ukraine in 2003 before being adopted by Dyan and Gary Ciccone five years later. She immigrated to the U.S. but the Ciccones ultimately relinquished parental rights due to her disruptive behavior. In 2010, Grace was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett.
The Barnetts later accused Grace of secretly being an adult masquerading as a child. In 2012, the Barnetts petitioned to change Grace’s birth records to reflect a 1989 birth date, which legally changed her age from 8 to 22. Grace was left to life on her own in an apartment while the Barnetts moved to Canada with their three sons.
Grace subsequently met Antwon and Cynthia Mans, who took her in. The Barnetts were charged in 2019 with multiple counts of neglecting a dependent. The charges resulted in a five-year investigation where they accused Grace of threatening to harm them and their three biological kids. Michael was found not guilty and the case against Kristine was dismissed.
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Keep reading for a breakdown of all the major players in the child neglect case and where they are now:
Natalia Grace
The ups and downs of Grace’s various adoptions — and alleged child neglect — made headlines and have since inspired Investigation Discovery’s 2024 docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks and Hulu’s Good American Family.
While filming The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, Grace agreed to a DNA test that found she was around 22 years old. This would make her 7 years old when she was adopted by Michael and Kristine. She is currently dating her boyfriend Neil while living in upstate New York with an adoptive family.
“It’s a blessing to be alive today because looking back at my 7-year-old self, I should have been dead,” she told People in 2025. “Learning everything that I have about how to live with my dwarfism — it’s been a great experience. I love it. I mean, of course, I still miss my siblings and everything. But I love it. I feel free.”
Imogen Faith Reid portrays Grace in Good American Family but has previously confirmed she didn’t reach out while bringing the role to life.
“Playing my own version of Natalia, I really wanted to fight for her voice to be heard and for this story to just give her so much justice and empowerment,” she exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2025. “I was so passionate about playing her and I really fought for her.”
Kristine Barnett
Before adopting Grace, the Barnetts welcomed three sons. Kristine subsequently published a memoir in 2013 titled The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism, which paved the way for the family to move to Canada after legally changing Grace’s age and moving her into multiple apartments.
Kristine and Michael were charged in 2019 with multiple counts of neglecting a dependent. The charges against them were ultimately dismissed after Michael’s case made it to court. Kristine and Michael have since called it quits and she released a new memoir in 2024 titled Witch Hunt: The Kristine Barnett Story.
Ellen Pompeo portrayed Kristine on Hulu’s Good American Family while Mark Duplass played Michael.
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Michael Barnett
After moving to Canada, Michael filed for divorce from Kristine in 2014. He found love with wife Jennifer Barnett and they have been off-and-on since. Michael was ultimately found not guilty of three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent in 2022.
Michael spoke out about the scandal on a 2024 episode of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace.
“I had the same monster you did,” he told Grace about how he was allegedly mistreated by Kristine. “I was exceptionally controlled and put down and threatened, was minimalized, anything that was who I was was ripped from me and I was guided and instructed to be exactly what she wanted me to be.”
Kristine denied the allegations, writing via Facebook, “Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family. [The abuse allegations against me are] just plain false. If there had been any abuse of Natalia or evidence of it, I would have been found guilty of it and I would be in jail.”
In the post, Kristine called Grace a “sociopath” who “takes advantage” of people’s sympathy to “manipulate” them.
“Michael Barnett and Natalia Barnett may have the same monster but that monster is not me,” Kristine concluded. “That monster whether it’s mental illness sociopathy or whatever it actually is may be different for each of them. But it’s within their own psyche.”
Cynthia Mans
Grace was invited to live with Cynthia and Antwon — and their 10 children — after a month of living alone. The couple petitioned to become Grace’s legal guardians in 2016 but a hearing was required to determine whether she was a legal adult.
Grace was declared an adult but remained with the Manses and they legally adopted her in 2023. Later that same year, Grace and the Mans family had a falling out amid claims they had allegedly abused her. Cynthia and Antwon denied the accusations and Natalia refused to address the scandal on her ID series.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” she said in a January 2024 episode after past footage shown on the show included arguments between Grace and the Mans family. (Grace has since spoken positively of the pair and Cynthia remained the “payee” of her disability funds.)
Christina Hendricks was cast as Cynthia on Hulu’s Good American Family limited series.
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Nicole and Vince DePaul
After continuously clashing with Cynthia and Antwon, Grace’s boyfriend Neil contacted the DePauls, who had tried to adopt Grace in 2009 but were turned down. The DePaul family took Grace into their home in late 2023 and she has remained with them.
“At first it was bumpy because the Mans were still involved. They were calling Natalia constantly and trying to wheel her back in,” Nicole claimed during an interview with People in January 2025. “It was just this constant thing where we were walking a fine line of not doing too much. See, she just came from this house that basically was ruled by a dictator, so I didn’t want to tell her what to do.”
She continued: “She’s also never done one violent thing ever. Our dogs love her and they sleep with her. I’m an animal lover. If I didn’t trust her, I wouldn’t leave my babies with her. They’re also a judge of character, as well.”
