Posted on 07/23/2010 9:49:17 AM PDT by jazusamo
OREGON CITY -- A Beavercreek couple who left their infant daughter's fate to God rather than seek medical treatment for a mass that grew over her left eye will face charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment.
Prosecutors revealed Thursday during a custody hearing that a grand jury has indicted Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, members of Oregon City's Followers of Christ church.
The Wylands' 7-month-old daughter, Alayna, was placed in state custody earlier this month after child-welfare workers received a tip about the untreated and ballooning growth. Doctors said that the condition could cause permanent damage or loss of vision.
The Wylands were indicted within the past few days and probably will be arraigned next week, said Colleen Gilmartin, the deputy district attorney handling the custody case in juvenile court.
Under Oregon law, it is a crime for parents to intentionally and knowingly withhold necessary and adequate medical attention from their children. First-degree criminal mistreatment is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The Wylands and their church reject medical care in favor of faith-healing -- anointing with oil, laying on of hands, prayer and fasting. The parents testified at a juvenile court hearing last week that they never considered getting medical attention for Alayna.
According to court documents, Rebecca Wyland anointed Alayna with oil each time she changed the girl's diaper and wiped away the yellow discharge that seeped daily from the baby's left eye.
Thursday's hearing was procedural and reached no resolution.
The Wylands' attorneys, John Neidig and Thurl Stalnaker Jr., offered a plan they said would guarantee the child would receive medical care recommended by doctors, with options such as regular visits from state workers, having a trusted individual occupy the Wyland home and monitoring the family with Skype, an Internet program used for video conferencing.
Attorney Michael Clancy, who represents Alayna, also urged that the girl be sent home.
Clancy, however, was skeptical that prosecutors or child-protection authorities would accept any plan to quickly reunite the family.
"There is no plan, even if we came up with 100 pages of stuff ... that is going to be satisfactory," he said.
Clackamas County Circuit Judge Douglas Van Dyk noted that doctors treating Alayna haven't reviewed the Wylands' plan and said he wouldn't approve the proposal without hearing from the physicians.
But Van Dyk also said Alayna should be returned home once a plan is in place "that makes the community feel secure about the care."
He told all the attorneys to submit their proposals to him next week and said he would work out a suitable agreement at a July 30 hearing.
"That's where this case is going as far as this judge is concerned," Van Dyk said.
There could be a complication.
Prosecutors said that a child usually is not returned to parents accused of criminal mistreatment. It is not clear whether the district attorney's office will seek a no-contact order or if one would be granted.
Gilmartin, doctors and DHS workers want assurances that Alayna will get treatment that will minimize damage to her eye and address any complications that arise.
Alayna had a small mark over her left eye at birth.
The area started swelling, and the fast-growing mass of blood vessels, known as a hemangioma, eventually caused her eye to swell shut and pushed the eyeball down and outward and started eroding the eye socket bone around the eye.
It's rare to see a child with an advanced hemangioma because the condition typically is treated as soon as it's detected, said a doctor who testified at a hearing before Van Dyk last week.
"They never get this large," said Dr. Thomas Valvano, a pediatrician at Doernbecher Children's Hospital. "This was medical neglect."
Investigators who interviewed the Wylands noted the grotesque swelling that led DHS to act.
"Alayna's left eyeball was completely obstructed, and you could not see any of it. The growth was multiple shades of red and maroon and appeared to me to be between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball," said Clackamas County Detective Christie Fryett in a search warrant affidavit that included pictures of the growth on Alayna's face.
Alayna is the Wylands' only child.
Timothy Wyland was a widower when he married Rebecca Wyland two years ago.
Wyland's first wife, Monique, died of breast cancer in 2006. She had not sought or received medical treatment for the condition, said Dr. Christopher Young, a deputy state medical examiner who signed the death certificate.
Ping!
Hard cases make bad law.
Why not take the child to an annointed surgeon with the spiritual gift of healing...?
Could not the state intervene just as temporary guardian, to get the surgery done, then relinquish care back to the parents?
I suppose by doing so they risk the possibility of the parents failing to seek medical care for other serious things (diabetes, head trauma, cancer. . .)
on the other hand if the don’t they risk foster care, which is statistically very much not in most children’s best interest.
Yep, that’s going to happen now and none too soon.
Dear Lord, almighty. Whenever I read about stories such as these I am always reminded of Hank Hanegraff (president of the Christian Research Institute) who confronted a caller on his program once. Like Hanks said, “Do you brush your teeth?” Duh! These people will not take their kid to the doctor for something like this but they don’t expect the Lord to keep their teeth from rotting or their fingernails from getting scummy. They clean their teeth, nails, and shower too. If you follow their logic, you would not do any of the above and never even bathe, since the Lord would just take care of it all. OY!
At the link there’s links to previous stories on this and other cases against members of the Followers of Christ Church.
The DA has tried working with them and sent letters to members re medical attention for minors with respect to OR law.
Some of the true believers won’t hear of compromise.
The wierd thing about this group is they go to dentists but not medical doctors, try figuring that out.
And now it is time to lock mom and dad up in prison and get appropriate medical treatment for that baby.
Yes, that’s why I lean towards the state stepping in, although I am strongly in favor of parental rights.
Parental rights are not absolute. We don’t have the right to blind our children.
However, I think I’d prefer limited state authority, where custody by the state is temporary, rather than permanent.
Except in the cases of extreme physical abuse and neglect, where it is reasonable to expect that it will be ongoing.
Parents have rights; but the kids are citizens of the U.S. too and worthy of protection of their lives.
I fully agree and in fact this couple agreed to seek any medical attention the toddler required after being brought into court but the judge declined until the medical procedures were performed.
Now a Grand Jury has indicted them. I hope they get the child back after all the legal and medical procedures are completed.
“I hope they get the child back after all the legal and medical procedures are completed.”
Since these parents are just deluded (my opinion) about medical care and not actively abusive or neglectful, I think that’s how I’d arrange it were I the judge.
It is not ideal, but neither is foster care.
My point precisely.
Take a close look at that picture. I think they should throw the parents off of a tall building and give them the opportunity to pray to the lord for the gift of flight. If they live, sterilize them. I would also require and examination of the children of every member of this co-called church, and if any of them had so much as a hangnail, I would remove those children from their homes, permanently. This group is already responsible for the deaths of children - there is no way that should be allowed to happen again. End it now.
You make a very good point. I’d be all for examinations of the children of these people but I don’t believe it can be done legally. I believe in previous cases with guilty verdicts judges did make stipulations that other minors in the families had to have medical checkups.
Hopefully these people will start getting the message that they will be prosecuted for medical neglect of their children.
Just...wow. Even hardcore witches don’t use witchcraft as a substitute for medical attention.
I’ll do faith-healing on my kids all right: I’ll put my faith in the gifts God has given to medical professionals, and in all those years they spent slaving their arses off in school to get into that profession in the first place.
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