They're Carl and Raylene Worthington; the Oregon City, Oregon couple who were accused by County child-welfare workers of deliberately withholding medical care in favor of 'prayer' when their daughter came down with a treatable case of pneumonia.
If you remember my prior post on this tribe, they belong to a church in Oregon City which does not permit the use of physicians. Over a hundred children and more than a few mothers have died in infancy or childbirth, respectively - the statistics being consonant with 19th century medical care.
Yesterday, the jury (having deliberated for a week and having been deadlocked twice over the verdict), acquitted Carl and Raylene of manslaughter under Oregon's faith-healing law.
(Oregon law subjects parents who withhold medical care from a minor child for religious purposes to the same punishments as for parents who withhold care for non-religious purposes; in this case, the Worthingtons were liable for manslaughter when their daughter died).
One of the jurors - a woman named Ashlee Santos - who chose to speak with reporters, stated “Just because something isn’t normal to you. It doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t work. As parents we all make our own decisions and sometimes they’re not the best. But I really do feel like they were loving people who cared about their kids and truly didn’t mean for anything to happen so tried not to judge them on beliefs and religion, they’re just like everybody else, just a little bit different.”
Words don't fail me - they're just unrepeatable.
This woman is a moron.
She went on to say, “Everybody’s entitled to their own beliefs and religion. And we all think it’s amazing the way their community is with each other. But I think when it comes to children I think there’s different steps."
'We all think it's amazing....' Excuse me while I vomit.
It's 'amazing' that they killed a 15-month-old in the name of 'religion'? That's not 'faith'. That's child-sacrifice. You've got to go to the darkest, most-backward, unenlightened and completely-savage parts of the world to even find people who practice that sort of barbarity nowadays.
While defense attorneys pulled a typical shuck-and-jive and said "...there are no winners in this case....", I'll come out and side with Steve Duin, a longtime reporter for the Portland, Oregonian: "The parents who would not summon a doctor to their home to save their child called a doctor to the witness stand to save themselves. Carl Brent and Raylene Worthington relied on half-baked spiritual remedies when their daughter was at risk, but their lawyers have resorted to garden-variety defense tactics in an effort to spare these parents the cost of discipleship."
In other words, it's quite all right when a minor child, who can't speak for itself, gets 'the treatment' at the 'hands of god' -- but when Dad's ass is on the line, he's more than happy to call a physician - this time, to bail him out of trouble.
The Worthingtons also have a kick-ass legal team -- it appears they have no trouble calling on 'the world' for help - when it's to keep their sorry-but-holy asses out of jail.
While the Oregonian is happy that Carl was convicted of a lesser charge, the gates are already open -- another faith-healing trial will commence; based on the actions of members of the same church in Oregon City - in a few weeks. The green-light was given, thanks to morons like Ms. Santos, to make Oregon the capital of child-abuse in America.
I wish I'd've been on that jury.
(Update: It turns out that Raylene Worthington is pregnant again -- gotta replace the one that died [another 19th century philosophy, I suppose.....]).
More of the Same....
Meanwhile, in sleepy Salem, Oregon, Oleksandr Kozlov and Lyudmila Kozlova have been arrested for child abuse, after three of their seven children, ages 13,14, and 15, used a pay-phone at a shopping mall to call Oregon child-services personnel to report serious abuse.
Showing fresh marks on their backs and buttocks from beatings with either ropes or cords, all seven are now in protective custody.
The mother, Lyudmila, flatly stated that she had beaten the two older girls because they had 'cut their hair', and that 'according to god's law, they were not to do so.'
Upon going to the home, sheriff's deputies found the four other children, ranging from 11 years to 6 days old, along with evidence of implements used for regular beatings - including a leather leash, a wooden spoon, wire loops and sticks from the yard.
I can see it now.
The Oregon Development Commission can throw their "Oregon is for Dreamers" campaign in the garbage can - they can start advertising for Fundies. There are plenty of them.
"Are you a dreamer with a creative religious bent? Come to Oregon! We love Dreamers - and Fundies. You can beat your kids. Hell, you can even kill them.
