Authorities declined to file charges against YouTuber Myka Stauffer and her husband, James Stauffer, after they placed their adopted son, Huxley, with another family.
The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio confirmed to Us Weekly that it has closed its case against the Stauffers after launching an investigation into Huxley’s welfare in early June. Deputies said in a redacted report obtained by Us that they had met with the 5-year-old and his “prospective adoptive parents” on June 9.
“When we walked into the office, [Huxley’s] adoptive mother was singing a song to him as he was sitting on her lap smiling,” Deputy Susanna Leonard said. “[Huxley] appeared to be very happy and well taken care of.”
Leonard said Huxley, who has autism, said the words “momma,” “go” and “open” when prompted by his prospective adoptive mother and also communicated with her through sign language.
“As far as the talk of possible human trafficking against [Huxley], it was determined that the process of his adoption is being conducted legally,” Leonard said, noting that after deputies met with the Stauffers on June 4 and performed welfare checks on their other four children, they concluded there were “no signs of physical abuse.”
Leonard stated that Huxley’s new adoption is being legally facilitated through a private agency, so “the investigation will be closed out with no further follow-up from our office.”
Myka, 33, and James, 34, came under fire in May when they announced in a YouTube video that they gave Huxley to a “new mommy” in a “forever home” three years after adopting him from China. James told his wife’s YouTube subscribers that Huxley had “a lot more special needs that we weren’t aware of,” while Myka admitted that she felt “like a failure as a mom.”
After facing major backlash, the mommy vlogger took to Instagram on June 24 to “apologize for the uproar and take full responsibility for all of the hurt that I have caused.” She also acknowledged that she was “naive, foolish and arrogant” and “needed more training” before starting Huxley’s adoption process in 2016.
The Stauffers are also the parents of daughters Kova, 8, and Jaka, 6, and sons Radley, 4, and Onyx, 12 months.