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Parents indicted in faith-healing case

.: posted 3/30/2008 ::: by webmdave :::

Oregon City couple are charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of their daughter

An Oregon City couple whose 15-month-old daughter died this month of medically treatable conditions surrendered to police Friday night hours after a Clackamas County grand jury indicted them.

They are at the heart of a case testing a state law that bars faith healing when it could endanger a child's life.

Based on the jury's findings, arrest warrants were issued for Carl Brent Worthington, 28, and Raylene Worthington, 25, on charges of second-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal mistreatment in the March 2 death of their daughter, Ava.

At 8:30 p.m., the pair voluntarily surrendered at the Clackamas County Jail, said Detective Jim Strovink, a sheriff's office spokesman. They were held on $250,000 bail each.

Television reporters soon descended on the jail's entrance, reacting to a tip that the husband and wife would post the $25,000 apiece needed to avoid spending the weekend in jail.

Their first court appearance was set for 1:30 p.m. Monday in Clackamas County Circuit Court.

A deputy state medical examiner determined that Ava died for lack of medical care. The girl suffered from bacterial bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection -- both treatable or preventable with antibiotics.

The parents are members of Oregon City's Followers of Christ, a fundamentalist Christian church that has seen dozens of children buried since the 1950s in the parish cemetery south of Oregon City. Many of them could have been saved by medical intervention, according to a 1998 analysis by The Oregonian.

The cluster of deaths prompted the 1999 Oregon Legislature to debate the issues of religious freedom, parental rights and public responsibility to protect children, culminating in the law allowing prosecution in preventable deaths.

The Worthingtons are the first congregation members to face criminal charges for failing to seek medical treatment for a gravely ill child.

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5 Comments:

Paul wrote:

It is a pity that only the parents have to now face justice. Those who colluded must also be charged. The ridiculous "faith healing" route is another name for Christian genocide and all who subscribe to it should be help personally accountable - after all, they have CHOSEN to believe! Then again, is it not possible to have the soucre of their reprehensible actions banned - this is all Bible-fed claptrap. The Bible is a dangerous book and should be banned!
Paul Benedict

posted: March 30, 2008 EST

John of Indiana wrote:

And there was a news item this week of a couple who let their 11-y-o daughter die from complications of Diabetes.
Wanting Jeebus to heal her. They're "not sure" if there's gonna be charges filed or not.

WTF???? Would there be any question if the parents said the couldn't be bothered to take their daughter to the doctor because it'd interrupt their "Halo 3" playing?

posted: March 30, 2008 EST

Jamie wrote:

I don't think the bible should be banned at all. If non-belief in the bible as a divine work is valid (and the evidence certainly suggets that such non-belief IS valid), then we shouldn't need to take such extreme positions as book banning.

In fact, all that's needed half the time is for people to READ the darn thing and use their own brain (something which doesn't happen much, especially when we are taught that the things that don't make sense are OUR fault, not the books fault).

posted: March 30, 2008 EST

freethinker05 wrote:

Man, these parents better pray thay stay in a state of delusion, because if they ever come back to their senses of reality I think it will drive them, well, delusional. Roger...A/A

posted: March 31, 2008 EST

Lorena wrote:

I also think that the Bible shouldn't be banned. It would be giving the book too much credit. All of a sudden, it will be an important book for all to smuggle.

The Bible needs to be downgraded, not banned.

posted: April 01, 2008 EST

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