When Faith Is Fatal

Commentary By Ron Beasley

A change of pace tonight - a local story that looks at religious cults, ignorance and the separation of church and state.  Just a few miles south and east of where I live is the Followers of Christ church.  The members of this church believe that going to a doctor shows a lack of faith and they treat members who are ill with prayer.  A few years ago, after the deaths of many children, the Oregon legislature passed a bill making it possible for prosecutors to charge members with negligent homicide when a child died as the result of failure to get medical attention. 

The first case was against Carl and Raylene Worthington who were accused of homicide in the death their 15 month old daughter.  Carl Worthington was found guilty of criminal mistreatment but innocent of manslaughter.  The most recent case is against Raylene Worthington's parents, Jeffrey and Marci Beagley.

Jeffrey, Marci Beagley found guilty in Oregon City faith-healing trial

A Clackamas County jury sent a clear signal Tuesday that parents who
rely solely on faith healing to treat their children face prison if a
child dies.

Jeffrey and Marci Beagley were found guilty
Tuesday of criminally negligent homicide in the death of their
16-year-old son, Neil. The boy died in June 2008 of complications from
an undiagnosed congenital urinary blockage after his parents attempted
to heal him with prayer, anointing with oil and laying on of hands.

They
are the first members of Oregon City's Followers of Christ church
convicted of homicide in the congregation's long history of children
dying from from treatable medical conditions.

I suspect the vedict was different this time because it has become clear that these were not isolated cases.

Last summer, another jury found church members Raylene and Carl Brent
Worthington not guilty of manslaughter in the death of their
15-month-old daughter, Ava. Raylene Worthington is the Beagley's
daughter and Neil Beagley's sister. Carl Worthington was convicted on a
lesser charge.


Prosecutors successfully argued that they should be allowed to discuss
the Worthington case because the Beagleys were present when Ava died.
That pre-trial victory helped pave a path to Tuesday's guilty verdict.


Maurer's decision to allow references to the Worthington case "was a
very big difference," said attorney Mark Cogan, who represented Carl
Worthington. "That was the biggest difference between the two trials."


The Beagleys were at the Worthington home for 24 hours before Ava died.
No one called for an ambulance or tried to revive the Ava when she
stopped breathing.


Neil Beagley died three and a half months later in similar circumstances.


He became ill in March 2008 with a cold that developed into something
Marci Beagley and other relatives believed could be life-threatening.
The Beagleys treated him with faith healing but did not take him to a
doctor.


Neil recovered but got sick again in early June 2008. After a week or
so, he became too weak to walk. Jeffrey Beagley had to carry him to the
bathroom. Marci Beagley fed him in small meals, but Neil couldn't keep
his food down.

When he died, as with Ava Worthington, no one called 9-1-1.

When children die ignorance is a crime.  The Followers of Christ's cemetery has many graves of children.  The church was not on trial but it should have been.