The Weird World of Torry Hansen: An Accusation from Hayfork

This is cross-posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt (Memoriam for Russian Adoptees Murdered and Abused by their Forever Families) blog

The Daily Bastardette and Nikto Ne Zabyt
is probably the only place you will find this!

Our quick-witted commenter “blueheron” caught the following comment on the Redding Record/Redding.com article, Russian boy case linked to Redding and added it to my Weird World of Torry Hansen comments (on the Daily Bastardette site.)

I’m posting it here because I think the comment deserves wider distribution and shouldn’t just set as a comment.–especially since it has been disappeared from it’s original site newspaper site.

We can’t judge the veracity of the writer, but it’s an intriguing clue to the Hansen puzzle. From what we know of similar abuse cases involving the Forever Families of Russian adoptees, social isolation plays is a key marker.

blueheron wrote:
Here is a comment from the article about the Hansens in Redding and Hayfork. I can’t vouch for the truth, but it is interesting. Any errors are in the original. Here’s the link to the article/comments: http://www.redding.com/news/2010/apr/16/russian-boy-case-linked-to-redding/?partner=RSS

southforkmom writes:
The other part of this story has no one questioning the mother’s role in this picture. The real story here is that Torry is the one with the strange, controlling upbringing. It is known in Hayfork that Erik and Nancy would enroll their children in public school and then pull them out to homeschool after some issue and would do this frequently. Another daughter got pregnant and the parents feigned the disapearance of the girl because they didn’t like the boyfriend. The boyfriend filed a missing person’s report with the sheriff’s department and was very concerned with her whereabouts and safety. It was determined by the d.a.’s office that she actually wasn’t a missing person. A child was born and that father still to this day hasn’t had any contact with that child. I believe that Russian boy isn’t the one with the problem here. The fact that Torry put that boy on a plane to RUSSIA! alone instead of getting help from the appropriate athorities says alot more about her character. Maybe he was just stuck in a horrible situation and that was his only way to retaliate.

Thanks blueheron!

There is much more to this story from the Hansen AND the adoption industry side. We’re doing our part to make sure it gets told.

ADDENDA:
blueherron posted this additional comment from Redding.com on this entry.
I’m re-posting it up here for wider distribution:


blueheron:
Well, just in case this one disappears, too, I’m posting it. The explanation of “gaming” public authorities is worth noting, I thought. From the comments in the same article, responding to SouthforkMom:

April 19, 2010
Poeschl writes:
Thanks to SouthforkMom’s comment (April 17) regarding Torry Hansen’s parents, their controlling upbringing of Torry and her sisters with repeated homeschooling, and especially Erik & Nancy Hansen’s filing a false missing persons report with Hayfork law enforcement.

I also note Terra Kephart’s comment (in the news article) that the Hansens were socially reclusive.

All this information is corroborated by the Hansen family’s behavior in Tennessee (where they had moved from California) from 2006 onward, with the social reclusion of the entire family, the homeschooling, and their ‘gaming’ of public authorities by providing false information or by withholding necessary information.

The last trait, the ‘gaming’ of public authorities by withholding necessary information, is borne out by Torry & Nancy Hansen’s returning Justin Hansen to Russia without giving prior notice either to the Russian government, or to the Washington State adoption agency that had arranged the adoption, or to the followup agency (Adoption Assistance Inc., of Danville, KY) that had contracted to monitor Torry Hansen’s adoption.

It is not even clear that authorities in Bedford County, TN, where Torry & Nancy Hansen resided with Justin, had ever received formal notice from the Hansens that Torry Hansen had custody of a child. Thus no independent third party can verify Torry & Nancy Hansen’s claims about Justin’s threats and violence — which is probably exactly what the Hansens intended.

It should also be noted that both Torry and Nancy Hansen did travel to Russia to meet Justin-Artyom and spend time with him before they decided to complete the adoption and take him back to the U.S. Also, the followup agency, Adoption Assistance, Inc., had previously educated Torry Hansen about the difficulties of Russian adoption and especially the difficulties encountered in caring for older institutionalized children and possible abnormal behavior. So, Torry and Nancy Hansen were not unprepared for Justin-Artyom and his allegedly difficult behavior.

The Russian government has already placed Justin-Artyom with a diplomatic family in Moscow who are well-informed about his history, are prepared to cope with his behavior, and plan to adopt him.

Note to Timbuk24U: Adoption is not like marriage. Marriage is between two consenting adults. Justin-Artyom is a child who did not consent be adopted by Torry Hansen. Also, once the adoption was finalized in November 2009, Justin-Artyom automatically became a U.S. citizen, and Torry Hansen lost the right to unilaterally terminate the adoption without the prior approval of an American court. Bedford County authorities will have to get a court order to unseal the adoption papers (which include whether the adoption was legally terminated). But if the adoption was not legally terminated, Torry Hansen could face charges of abandonment.

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8 Replies to “The Weird World of Torry Hansen: An Accusation from Hayfork”

  1. As an aside, yesterday my daughter’s were watching a horror flick, “The Orphan”. It’s about an EVIL Russian little girl that really isn’t a little girl, she’s 33 and escaped from a HIGH SECURITY mental hospital. She has murdered people and (when I popped in to watch) is going to murder her adopted family. She succeeded in murdering her adopted father. Of course this is FICTION.

    I was just sitting there watching it. I’ve been following your coverage here on the Hansen case with horror for an entirely different reason. I hope this doesn’t sound like a stupid question because I’m sincere in wondering. I wonder if the Hansen’s saw ths movie and it played out in their heads to somehow say Artem was dangerous. It just struck me when I was watching the flick because what the Hansen’s did is not only criminal, it is down right crazy! You just don’t do what they did to this child.
    Seeing Artem say they pulled him by the hair speaks to their abuse.

    I’m just stunned by this whole affair and can’t help but cry for him.

  2. Well, just in case this one disappears, too, I’m posting it. The explanation of “gaming” public authorities is worth noting, I thought. From the comments in the same article, responding to SouthforkMom:

    April 19, 2010
    Poeschl writes:

    Thanks to SouthforkMom’s comment (April 17) regarding Torry Hansen’s parents, their controlling upbringing of Torry and her sisters with repeated homeschooling, and especially Erik & Nancy Hansen’s filing a false missing persons report with Hayfork law enforcement.

    I also note Terra Kephart’s comment (in the news article) that the Hansens were socially reclusive.

    All this information is corroborated by the Hansen family’s behavior in Tennessee (where they had moved from California) from 2006 onward, with the social reclusion of the entire family, the homeschooling, and their ‘gaming’ of public authorities by providing false information or by withholding necessary information.

    The last trait, the ‘gaming’ of public authorities by withholding necessary information, is borne out by Torry & Nancy Hansen’s returning Justin Hansen to Russia without giving prior notice either to the Russian government, or to the Washington State adoption agency that had arranged the adoption, or to the followup agency (Adoption Assistance Inc., of Danville, KY) that had contracted to monitor Torry Hansen’s adoption.

    It is not even clear that authorities in Bedford County, TN, where Torry & Nancy Hansen resided with Justin, had ever received formal notice from the Hansens that Torry Hansen had custody of a child. Thus no independent third party can verify Torry & Nancy Hansen’s claims about Justin’s threats and violence — which is probably exactly what the Hansens intended.

    It should also be noted that both Torry and Nancy Hansen did travel to Russia to meet Justin-Artyom and spend time with him before they decided to complete the adoption and take him back to the U.S. Also, the followup agency, Adoption Assistance, Inc., had previously educated Torry Hansen about the difficulties of Russian adoption and especially the difficulties encountered in caring for older institutionalized children and possible abnormal behavior. So, Torry and Nancy Hansen were not unprepared for Justin-Artyom and his allegedly difficult behavior.

    The Russian government has already placed Justin-Artyom with a diplomatic family in Moscow who are well-informed about his history, are prepared to cope with his behavior, and plan to adopt him.

    Note to Timbuk24U: Adoption is not like marriage. Marriage is between two consenting adults. Justin-Artyom is a child who did not consent be adopted by Torry Hansen. Also, once the adoption was finalized in November 2009, Justin-Artyom automatically became a U.S. citizen, and Torry Hansen lost the right to unilaterally terminate the adoption without the prior approval of an American court. Bedford County authorities will have to get a court order to unseal the adoption papers (which include whether the adoption was legally terminated). But if the adoption was not legally terminated, Torry Hansen could face charges of abandonment.

  3. The evil Russian adoptee archetype that was exploited in the movie Orphan is sadly based on a real condition, “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome” that is somewhat common in Russia because of the high level of extreme alcoholism.

    This syndrome involves brain damage that creates children without conscience, little impulse control or empathy, and a propensity for violence. In some cases there are also physical abnormalities and mental retardation.

    This can happen to any child whose mother is alcoholic and drinks a lot at crucial developmental stages of pregnancy. It is not a matter of the child being evil, but of real organic brain damage. The most severe of these children often need to be institutionalized as they cannot function in society. The less severe require lots of therapy, medication, and great patience on the part of family and caregivers to get along.

    Indeed, the Hansens may have seen this movie, or read things about FAS and attachment disorder, and then decided that was Artem’s problem. However, since they sought no professional help for him and as far as I know he was not evaluated or diagnosed, there is an even chance he has none of these problems, just the results of trauma from the tough life he has led, which they added to by abandoning him and possibly mistreating him while he was in their care.

    I cry for him too. Poor little fellow. And curse the beasts who did this to him and threw him away like so much garbage. Saying it again….why aren’t they in jail, and why does anyone have sympathy for them??

  4. Maryanne, I know. Between closing my eyes at all the horror and blood I did hear the call by the mother with the Russian gentleman on the other end saying the 33 year old was a FAS victim. Just a couple of months ago I did a short paper for a college child development class I was taking on FAS. So, yes, with the high alcoholism rate in Russia it is possible that Jacob Hansen suffers from this, but as you said, he was never taken for evaluation or help. I just found a connection with the movie and what has been said about him by the Hansens. Knowing they were trying to adopt still another child (from Russia also, right?) just makes the hair on my neck stand up. You have to be 100% prepared for some disfunction in an older child wherever you adopt from. The Hansens aren’t prepared to take care of a carnival gold fish let alone a child, ANY child with their behavior.

    Does anyone know what sort of documentation was given to the Hansens prior to them taking custody of him? Please don’t think I am trying to exonerate their actions, I’m just wondering if they were told one thing about him and then found out he had some problems. Problems that they should have dealt with! He’s a child for God’s sake. As adults and parents we HAVE to take care of children, exhaust every possible means to get them help if they need it.

    Oh, one other question. Here in California the state gives financial aid to parents who adopt. Did the Hansens benefit financially from adopting him? I had a friend who was low-income, an older single woman. She adopted one of her foster children. She received monthly payments for his care.

  5. That one is a good question, Maryanne. What is it that seems to place adopters beyond the reach of our justice system? There is enough evidene, both concrete and heresay, to indict these folks.

  6. Maryanne:

    In answer to your question NO the Hanson Bints received NOTHING from the state for adopting Artyom.

    If you adopt from the STATE foster care system, such as your friend did, then YES you do receive a stipend/monthly check.

    However, since Artyom was an international adoptee, they GOT NOTHING for him. They may have gotten a $10K tax credit, but that’s it.

    Could be another reason he was packed off “return to sender”.

    Elizabeth Case

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