On Dec. 17, Judge R. Terence Ney handed down a not guilty verdict in the case of Purcellville resident Miles Harrison, 49.

Harrison had been charged with involuntary manslaughter after his 21-month-old adopted son was found dead in an unattended vehicle in Herndon on July 8.

The child, originally named Dmitry Yakolev and later re-named Chase Harrison, was adopted from Russia at a cost to the Harrisons of about $80,000. At the time of his death the toddler was still a Russian citizen, according to the Russian Embassy.

"He would have remained a Russian citizen until he reached legal age, at which time he could renounce his citizenship if he chose," said Yevgeniy Khorishko, press secretary for the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. "It is just awful that the person who killed this child has been pardoned," Khorishko added.

On Dec. 18, Russia's Foreign Ministry condemned Harrison's acquittal in an official statement.

"We are deeply angered by the verdict of the Fairfax Circuit Court in Virginia. We consider it to be repulsive and unprecedented, even if in this case -- unlike in others -- it was criminal negligence that led to a tragic outcome, rather than deliberate ill-treatment. The decision of a judge, who did not see the crime in Harrison’s actions and released him without any penalty, goes beyond any legal and moral framework," it stated.

On Dec. 17, Ney ruled that although Harrison was "plainly negligent," he did not display "negligence so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a callous disregard for human life," one of the standards in defining an involuntary manslaughter charge in Virginia.

Ney said that based on court testimony, Harrison was not himself on July 8 when he left the boy in his vehicle. The high temperature that day was 91 degrees. Harrison has said that he was deeply concerned that day about a contract that his office was negotiating with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The contract was the largest government contract that his company, Project Solutions Group in Herndon, had ever pursued.

In court, Ney said that Harrison was "clueless" and "oblivious" that the child had been left in the vehicle, and that Harrison believed him to be at a day-care facility in Ashburn.

Ney called that belief "tragic and erroneous" but called Harrison a "dutiful and devoted father" and said that "the only atonement can take place in his heart and soul." He added that "no finding of involuntary manslaughter will bring this child back to life."

But Russian officials are demanding that America toughen its policies toward adopted children's rights and are outraged with the incident.

"People in Moscow are now thinking about changing the rules of adoption for Russian children if the country they go to cannot provide protection for them, and the person who kills them is let go as if he is innocent," Khorishko told the Times

Contact the reporter at gmacdonald@timespapers.com