Child's faith healing death investigated by US police

Child's faith healing death investigated by US police
CHICAGO - THE parents of a girl who died of a treatable form of diabetes are unrepentant in their belief that their prayers were of more use than a doctor, police said.
Eleven-year-old Madeline Kara Neumann died at about 2.00pm on Easter Sunday after she slipped into a diabetic coma and stopped breathing, an autopsy found.
Police were already on their way to her rural Wisconsin home after receiving frantic calls from her aunt in California asking them to check on Madeline when a call came from the girl's home saying she'd stopped breathing.
'Their faith is such that they believe praying would heal her, so they chose to do that rather than take her to a doctor,' said Everest Metropolitan Police Captain Scott Sleeter on Thursday.
'They seemed pretty calm,' he said in describing a recent interview with the parents.
'They weren't very emotional. They were pretty steadfast in their belief that they did what was proper.' The parents told police they were not aware their daughter was diabetic.
She had been sickly and fatigued for several weeks and then became quite ill in the days before Easter.
'They realised it was bad because they were calling for prayer help from other relatives and other prayer organisations,' Mr Sleeter said.
'We'll confer with our local district attorney and try to determine whether any criminal charges are appropriate. Right now we don't know yet.'
Madeline's three older siblings - aged 13, 15, and 16 - were taken away from their parents by social services and were to be checked by a doctor to ensure they did not have any untreated health conditions.
The death shocked the rural community.
'Those that believe in prayer as healing would see nothing wrong with this,' Mr Sleeter said.
'But most of us around here, I would be confident in saying that the majority of the people don't follow that kind of logic. They would take their kids to the doctor. I know I would.'
The parents, who run a coffee shop ministry in the town of Weston, Wisconsin, were not immediately available for comment.
An online ministry which had been contacted by the Neumanns issued a statement protesting the 'persecution' of 'a very loving family who want to walk in the steps of Jesus'.
'They don't investigate the people who put their trust in doctors whose family members die,' the Unleavened Bread Ministries said.
'We know that the doctors do the best they can with what they have and we do not condemn them. We would like the same consideration.' -- AFP

I do hope Christians around me belong to the more sensible camp.