CNN logo Navigation Infoseek/Big Yellow Pathfinder/Warner Bros Main banner SAMSUNG Meet the Challenge rule WOMAN ADMITS SLAPPING ADOPTED CHILD ON FLIGHT FROM RUSSIA October 8, 1997 Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT) NEW YORK (AP) -- A Phoenix woman testified Wednesday that on a 12-hour flight from Moscow she may have slapped one of the two Russian girls she and her husband adopted. Karen Thorne said she was "very frustrated" in her attempts to calm the young girl on the crowded jet. She said difficulties began when she and her husband, Richard, met the 4-year-olds at an orphanage in Voronezh, about 12 hours north of Moscow by train. She said one child cried frequently and the other was initially warm, but then became aggressive and hard to manage. She said the children were difficult to control on a shopping trip in Moscow and while waiting to board the plane to New York. Three Texas men who were on the flight with their own newly adopted children said they saw the Thornes hit the girls. The Thornes were arrested upon landing and the girls were placed in foster homes, first in New York and now in Arizona, where the Thornes are permitted supervised visits. The Thornes have been charged with assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of the children. The Thornes speak only English; the children only Russian. Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. _________________________________________________________________ Infoseek search ____________________ ____ ____ _________________________________________________________________ rule Message Boards Sound off on our message boards You said it... [INLINE] SAMSUNG Meet the Challenge rule To the top © 1997 Cable News Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you.