Adam Whittington’s wife Karin criticises Channel Nine for leaving her husband behind in Beirut

THE wife of the chief planner hired by 60 Minutes for their botched snatch story has slammed Nine for leaving her husband in a Beirut jail.

THE wife of the chief planner hired by 60 Minutes for their botched snatch story has slammed Channel Nine for leaving her husband behind in a Beirut prison.

Karin Whittington, the wife of Adam Whittington, the CEO and founder of Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), told The Project she believed that Nine’s actions were not “very moral”.

Mrs Whittington said she has only spoken to her husband for about 30 seconds since he has been locked up in a Beirut cell for his involvement in the 60 Minutes botched child recovery mission.

She has also received a letter from him, but she has not told their children yet. The couple live in Sweden and have two sons.

“They were in this together. I think they paid themselves in, they should pay themselves out,” she said.

“I know that Adam has told me he is not disappointed in the crew itself, the photographer or the journalist, but in the management of the team just to dismiss everything and say they have no responsibility, it is not very moral, in my eyes.”

Mrs Whittington said she has had no contact with Channel Nine since the snatch scandal unfolded.

Adam and Karin Whittington and their two sons. Picture: Supplied

“They’re at home with their families and they haven’t spent one thought of me and my family. I think they should take responsibility to what they got involved in, she said.

“You can’t just dismiss and say you don’t have any responsibility. Buy themselves in and buy themselves out. It’s not fair, I don’t think it’s fair at all.”

She also said she had heard nothing from the Australian government, and expressed her disappointment.

“I have been in contact with consular from the British Embassy maybe twice,” she said.

“I am very disappointed in how the Australian government has dealt with all of this.”

Mrs Whittington also defended her husband’s choice of career, saying he was helping “desperate parents”.

“He knows that he takes a risk, but I think in this case it is a lot of people involved and I think he is assisting desperate parents,” she said.

Facebook pictures of Adam Whittington posted by his wife Karin. Picture: Supplied

“A lot of parents feel no one is helping them and it is a risk involving the job, yes.”

If Mr Whittington, a former Australain Army soldier, is found guilty he could face up to 20 years in a Lebanese jail.

“I put my hope that he will get the same treatment as the other people,” she said.

“It is hard when there are three parties involved and two are released and one is left behind. They were in this together, I think the truth will come out.”

Adam Whittington, founder and CEO of CARI (Child Abduction Recovery International). Picture: YouTube

Mrs Whittington also said 60 Minutes had not been in contact with her at all.

“They should have the decency at least to see how I am. The TV crew was sitting in the same cell as my husband for two weeks,” she said.

“Wouldn’t a phone call saying ‘he is OK, he misses you and I hope he will be OK’. Something? Some apologies? Not just, ‘We don’t have any responsibility. We haven’t paid anyone’. It is not the right thing to do.

“I think the truth will come out, though. That is what I think.”

Mrs Whittington is now selling family assets to pay for his legal defence.

She has more than $150,000 in costs and put her husband’s Range Rover up for sale in Sweden.

Mr Whittington’s mother, Gina, said: “I can picture Adam in a hole, filth, not eating. I am just sick in the stomach about thinking what Adam is going through.”

She claimed that Channel Nine was “fully responsible and they are not admitting it”.

“They said on 60 Minutes that they have made a mistake. Well, why don’t they say what mistake they made?”

Gina Whittington, Adam’s mother. Picture: Scott Fletcher

“He’s not going to be the lucky one to get out. He’s going to be in prison for a long time. That is going to killed a dam to think that he can’t see his kids. Where is the government? Where is Channel Nine? Please, help my son.”

Mr Whittington shared a cramped cell with Nine producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment.

However the network left him behind after paying for the release of its own staff, who fled on the first plane out of town.

In an additional statement to News Corp through his lawyer yesterday, Mr Whittington lashed out at Nine for leaving him and his colleague Craig Michael behind.

“I’m shocked they treated me in a selfish way, they didn’t care about me, they know I have a family to take care of,” he said.

Adam Whittington and Craig Michael are behind bars. Picture: ITV

“How could they be selfish, I didn’t expect this from them, they left me behind.

“I was very fair with them and they ignored me in return. I don’t blame the crew that was detained with me, I blame the decision makers outside.”

Nine has sought to distance itself from Mr Whittington, but he says 60 Minutes was behind the whole operation.

The TV crew were in Lebanon to help Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner’s children back from their father Ali Elamine in Lebanon.

A payment slip showed the network transferred $69,000 to a company connected to CARI, Whittington’s organisation.

The paperwork declares the payment came straight from a Nine bank account in Sydney in January and was for: “Investigation into my missing child.”

The showing payment of $69,000 from TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd to Adam Whittington. Picture: Supplied

When asked if Nine paid Mr Whittington, Nine has told The Project in a statement that they had a contract with Sally Faulkner for her story, and she had a contract with CARI.

Asked why they had not contacted Mrs Whittington, Nine said in a statement: “We have no relationship with Adam Whittington’s family.”

A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s office told The Project in a statement: “The Australian Embassy consular officials in Beirut visited Mr Whittington soon after he was first detained. As he entered Lebanon on his British passport, Mr Whittington has been receiving consular assistance from the UK Embassy in Beirut. This is consistent with past practice and is the preference of the Lebanese authorities, who are dealing with the UK in relation to Mr Whittington.”

The statement also said: “The Australian Embassy is continuing to monitor Mr Whittington’s circumstances and is in close contact with the UK Embassy and Mr Whittington’s lawyer on an ongoing basis. Mr Whittington’s alleged involvement with Channel Nine or other Australians has no bearing on consular assistance available to him.”