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Before I form an opinion I need to know: was the autistic boy denied proper medical treatment for the same condition that was being prayed about? In other words, was prayer used as a complete replacement for medical attention?
Before I form an opinion I need to know: was the autistic boy denied proper medical treatment for the same condition that was being prayed about? In other words, was prayer used as a complete replacement for medical attention?
The article is too vague. It doesn't give enough details about what the medical condition was other than it was for an autistic boy.
A church elder was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison Tuesday for abusing an 8-year-old autistic boy who died in what prosecutors called an exorcism at a storefront church.
Prosecutors say Ray Hemphill lay on Terrance Cottrell Jr.’s chest for at least an hour while trying to release “demons” from him, before the boy died Aug. 22, 2003.
“It was your unreasonable and reckless conduct that caused this child to die,” Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean DiMotto told Hemphill.
Last month, a jury found Hemphill, 46, guilty of physical abuse of a child recklessly causing great bodily harm.
Hemphill’s attorney had argued his client was trying to help the boy, and that Cottrell died after an overdose of medication.
The medical examiner ruled the boy died of suffocation.
Terrance died at the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith in Milwaukee, where Hemphill was a church elder and where the boy and his mother were members.
The judge also sentenced Hemphill to 7-1/2 years of extended supervision and ordered him to pay about $1,200 in restitution. He had faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
"An 8-year-old autistic boy died during a prayer service at a Milwaukee church that the pastor said was meant to heal him of "spirits," and the pastor's brother is facing child abuse charges, police said Sunday."
"The adults formed a circle around the boy and placed their hands lightly over him as they prayed for him, Hemphill said."
"[They] were just praying for him and asking God to deliver him from the spirit that he had," Hemphill said. "The little boy had spirits in him, and we was asking God to deliver him."
It's 2011 and adults are really doing this? The brainwashing it must take for a normal human being to think these fairytale stories of "healing" work must be incredible.
As was pointed out by msina, this is old news. I did not notice the date on the CNN article linked to by the OP.
Justice has been served. May the child RIP and I hope the parents have severed their ties to that "church".
Oh OK. I didn't realize it was the same boy and out of date. In any case, what a sad story.
Last edited by nimchimpsky; 06-04-2011 at 05:49 PM..
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