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| An official at Holt Children's Services speaks during a press conference in Seoul, June 1. Yonhap |
The Korean branch of Holt International Children's Services has appealed a court ruling ordering the adoption agency to compensate a Korean person adopted to the U.S. about 40 years ago and deported back without citizenship, an official said Thursday.
The case involves Adam Crapser, 46, who was adopted to American parents at the age of three in 1979 through Holt Children's Services in Korea.
Crapser was readopted to another American family at age 12 and was once again abandoned four years later following what he said was child abuse.
Without gaining citizenship, Crapser was deported to Korea in 2016 after his criminal record from his youth was revealed during the process of renewing his permanent residency in 2014.
He has since filed a lawsuit against Holt Children's Services and the Korean government, and the Seoul Central District Court ruled last month that the agency failed to fulfill its duties to protect adoptees as their guardian and ordered it to pay 100 million won ($75,897) in compensation to Crapser.
The court said Holt Children's Services was obliged to ensure Crapser gain U.S. citizenship.
On Thursday, an official at Holt Children's Services said the agency filed an appeal against the ruling on May 25.
The official said the main point of dispute is at what point an adoption agency's duties as a guardian ends and argued that in Crapser's case, Holt's guardianship came to an end upon his arrival in the U.S.
She also argued the special adoption law requiring the verification of an adoptee's citizenship acquisition and other protections, introduced in 2012, does not apply to Crapser's case.
On Thursday, Crapser also appealed the court ruling that did not recognize the government's liability in his troubled adoption. (Yonhap)
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