This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7392138.stm

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Czech 'mystery impostor' on trial Czech 'mystery impostor' cleared
(about 1 hour later)
A 33-year-old woman has appeared in court in the Czech city of Brno, charged with deceiving a children's home into thinking she was a girl. A Czech woman charged with deceiving a children's home into thinking she was a 13-year-old girl has been found not guilty by a court in the city of Brno.
Barbora Skrlova and another woman also face more serious child abuse charges. The court said Barbora Skrlova, who along with five others is believed to belong to a secretive cult, meant no ill-will towards the children's home.
Ms Skrlova and five other adults are believed to belong to a secretive cult, allegedly founded by her father. But Ms Skrlova, aged 33, was immediately re-arrested to face more serious charges of child abuse.
After the child abuse scandal erupted Ms Skrlova went on the run, reappearing months later in Norway, where she posed as a 12-year-old boy. Ms Skrlova went on the run after the child abuse case erupted.
She re-appeared months later in Norway, where she posed as a 12-year-old boy.
The child abuse case is one of the most bizarre and sinister in modern Czech history.
The Czech media has been haunted by the face - or rather faces - of Barbora Skrlova for over a year.The Czech media has been haunted by the face - or rather faces - of Barbora Skrlova for over a year.
Victim or participant?Victim or participant?
Initially, she appeared as a shy, 13-year-old girl called Anicka, with thick glasses and brown hair tied up in ponytails.Initially, she appeared as a shy, 13-year-old girl called Anicka, with thick glasses and brown hair tied up in ponytails.
Then there was the shaved head and dark, sunken eyes of Adam, the 12-year-old Czech schoolboy who turned up in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.Then there was the shaved head and dark, sunken eyes of Adam, the 12-year-old Czech schoolboy who turned up in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
And finally a pale, nervous-looking woman wearing a woolly hat and clutching a teddy bear, being led away by police at Prague Airport.And finally a pale, nervous-looking woman wearing a woolly hat and clutching a teddy bear, being led away by police at Prague Airport.
Ms Skrlova faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison on the deception charge. It is alleged that Ms Skrlova, a woman posing as her adopted mother, and four other adults are all part of a secretive cult founded by her father.
But the five adults also face child abuse charges, after a naked boy was found locked in a broom cupboard in the children's home where Ms Skrlova was living. The cult theory might explain why Ms Skrlova - who appears to be a deeply disturbed young woman - keeps changing her personality.
He had been beaten, tortured and forced to eat his own vomit. It could also explain why her so-called adopted mother kept her two young sons locked naked in a broom cupboard and subjected them to terrible abuse.
The adults accused of carrying out the abuse are thought to belong to the secretive cult. One of the boys found in the broom cupboard had been beaten, tortured and forced to eat his own vomit.
The court must determine whether Barbora Skrlova was, as she maintains, a victim of abuse or a willing participant. The court must determine whether Ms Skrlova was, as she maintains, a victim of abuse or a willing participant. The case is expected to begin in June.