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Jan. 19 (UPI) -- An American detained in Russia on child abuse charges stemming from a custody dispute with his Russian ex-wife will be back in court Thursday when his trial resumes after a two-month delay. David Barnes, 65, of Woodlands, Texas, was arrested during a trip to Russia in late 2021 after his Russian-born ex-wife illegally removed their two sons from the United States, alleging Barnes had abused them.
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Authorities in Texas investigated Svetlana Koptyaeva's allegations but found no evidence and no charges were filed. Barnes had hoped to secure custody or visitation rights in Russian family court, according to his family, following a Texas judge's 2020 decision to designate Barnes as the sole managing conservator of his children.
But Koptyaeva repeated her allegations to Russian authorities who detained Barnes a month after he arrived in the country.
The trial resumes after a series of false starts due to issues associated with transporting Barnes to the courthouse and the failure of trial participants to show, his family says.
"My hope is that they can actually get him transported to the courthouse and there's no confusion again as to when the trial is scheduled to begin," Carol Barnes, David Barnes' sister, told ABC News. "My real hope is that they dismiss the case, but we know that's not going to happen."
Speaking to the local newspaper, The Courier, Carol Barnes said she had crowdfunded $5,000 to assist her brother.
"You can't live on what they feed you over there," she said, explaining how she sends food to Barnes via his commissary. "He'd be malnourished if he wasn't getting outside help."
Barnes' employer, KBR, a Houston-based engineering firm, has him on administrative leave, continuing to pay for his benefits, his sister said.
"Today's not a good day at all," I just feel like ... I try not to feel hopeless, but you know, it's getting really hard. I have faith and I pray to God. And I am just scared that no matter what, they're going to convict" him.
Barnes' congressman, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, has previously said Barnes' arrest and detention are political and said he is working with the State Department to bring him home.
Texas authorities filed a felony charge of interference with child custody against Koptyaeva 2 1/2 years ago, after she allegedly violated a court ruling and took the children out of the United States.
Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, considers the children to have been missing since Koptyaeva took them out of the country in March 2019.
In December, the Biden administration won the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian penal colony by exchanging convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Meanwhile, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan has been in Russian custody since 2018.
