Delaware County Sheriff’s Office have confirmed the reason YouTube couple Myka and James Stauffer “rehomed” their autistic adopted son Huxley.
According to a report obtained by Buzzfeed News, the couple realized they “couldn’t take care of him anymore” because he had shown “severe aggression towards the other kids.”
Police investigated following numerous requests for a welfare check after the pair announced they had rehomed the child with another family, having adopted him from China themselves.
The heavily-redacted report claimed the couple had filmed his aggressive behavior, and had documentation from multiple therapists; eventually deciding it “was an intolerable situation to continue”.
They said they had to hire a “very expensive” full-time caretaker to ensure their four other kids, and Huxley, were safe.
Investigators confirmed on Tuesday that the couple will not face any charges, after determining Huxley was not being abused, that his re-adoption was legal, and was thriving with his new family.
“As far as the talk of possible human trafficking against [Huxley], it was determined that the process of his adoption is being conducted legally,” Deputy Susanna Leonard concluded in the report.
The trafficking accusations arose from the fact the couple had used a GoFundMe to raise money for the adoption; however they claimed to have only collected $800 from the fundraiser, while the adoption cost $42k in total.
In late May, Myka said that the decision to “rehome” the four-and-a-half-year-old was because the family was not made aware of the full scope of his autism, nor the extent of medical care he would need; she said that Huxley’s new mother was a medical professional more equipped to take care of him.
Last week, after a month-long silence, Myka apologized “for the uproar” she caused.
“I’m sorry for the confusion, and pain I have caused, and I am sorry for not being able to tell more of my story from the beginning,” she said in a statement posted to Instagram.
She further apologized for “being so naive when I started the adoption process, I was not selective or fully equipped or prepared.” She did, though, say she had no regrets about bringing Huxley to the United States from China because he’s “getting all the help he needs” now.
“Even though he is happier in his new home and doing better that he still experienced trauma and I’m sorry, no adoptee deserves any more trauma,” she wrote.
“I wanted to help so bad I was willing to bring home any child that needed me. For this, I was naive, foolish, and arrogant.”
Last month her husband James returned to his YouTube channel without ever mentioning Huxley.
