Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

Pointing and laughing at religious lunacy for more than half-a-century

Fourteen members of a crazy Christian cult found guilty of causing a child’s death

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RATHER than seek medical help for diabetic Elizabeth Struhs, inset above, members of an Australian Christian cult, led by Brendan Stevens, turned to prayer and song, maintaining a vigil around the 8-year-old’s bed even after she’d stopped breathing.

And they sought divine intervention to raise her from the dead.

According to CNN Stevens and his deranged followers, including Elizabeth Struhs’s parents, were among members of the home-based cult, The Saints, who found guilty on manslaughter today (Wednesday) after a nine-week, judge-only trial at Brisbane’s Supreme Court.

Handing down the verdicts, Justice Martin Burns said Elizabeth’s death was “inevitable” after the group failed to administer insulin or seek medical help as she lay dying over six days in January 2022 at her home in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.

All 14 members had refused to enter a plea, which was formally accepted as not guilty.

In his ruling Burns said that, until her death, Elizabeth was a “vibrant, happy child” who was “lovingly cared for… and adored” by all members of the church, including the accused.

However, due to a singular belief in the healing power of God which, to the minds of her parents and the other members of the Church left no room for recourse to any form of medical care or treatment, she was deprived of the one thing that would most definitely have kept her alive – insulin.

Elizabeth was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes in 2019, but died on January 7, 2022 of diabetic ketoacidosis, a complication caused by a lack of insulin and medical treatment for the condition, according to the ruling.

Image via YouTube

Stevens and the girl’s father Jason Struhs, above, were originally charged with murder by reckless indifference, but both were found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter because Burns wasn’t convinced beyond reasonable doubt that they “knew Elizabeth would probably die.”

Members of The Saints didn’t ascribe to any religious denomination, but saw themselves as Bible-following Christians.

They rejected conventional medicine, which some members described as “witchcraft.”

The court heard that Jason Struhs joined the church in August 2021, following his wife Kerrie Struhs, who’d become a firm believer in its teachings.

Just months later, on January 2, Jason Struhs declared to a church meeting that “God had healed Elizabeth of her diabetes,” according to Burns’ written ruling.

That night, Elizabeth had one last dose of slow-acting insulin, and the next morning her glucose levels were so normal that Jason Struhs became convinced God had intervened.

Struhs told his daughter to put away her glucometer because “she didn’t need it anymore,” and the group members praised the “miraculous” development.”

Even after the 8-year-old stopped breathing early on January 7, the group gathered around her, singing “choruses” and praying for her “to be raised from the dead by God.”

Jason Struhs finally called emergency services 36 hours after his daughter’s death, telling others that:

Though God would still raise Elizabeth, they could not leave a corpse in the house.

All 14 found guilty will be sentenced on February 11.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn

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4 responses to “Fourteen members of a crazy Christian cult found guilty of causing a child’s death”

  1. Broga Avatar
    Broga

    Why would God save her after prayers when he knew from the start that he was allowing her to have diabetes? These tragically misguided people are so locked into their own narrow religious world that they cause their own child to die. I can’t believe that they were indifferent to their own child’s death. They were just locked into their Christian narrow world and beliefs that reason had no place.

    That so many people still believe in the medieval superstation of a god for which there has never been any evidence is a catastrophe. They are encouraged and lied to by supposed devout clerics who have as much belief as myself. Their preaching is their lies which further their own status. Do the clerics, including I see another bishop accused of sexually assaulting two women, really believe. Have they no belief in an omniscient god and his wrath?

    There is currently an excellent series of programmes which refers to the formation of the planets 4,5 billion years ago. Never a mention of God’s formation of them so very recently. And we shouldn’t forget God’s saving of Trump, his specially chosen, and who is ravaging the environment and causing vast misery to so many.

    Liked by 2 people

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  2. malcolmjdodd Avatar
    malcolmjdodd

    Dejavu all over again! Gloria Hunniford’s daughter died 2004, (I remember because it was the same year as my wife died), she consulted a spiritual healer, then moved to Australia for a couple of years to be with a snake-oil salesman (I believe that he was described as a cult-leader); despite all of their efforts she died!

    I wonder if these are the same people still trying to perfect their woo-woo?

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. Broga Avatar
    Broga

    Malcolm: I’m sorry to hear about your wife. The same unthinking approach is still there. A plane has crashed with a helicopter in the USA. All dead in both. What was well to the fore in the comments afterwards was, “we are praying for the relatives.” No criticism of God who, presumably, allowed the painful death in a near freezing river.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. malcolmjdodd Avatar
      malcolmjdodd

      What always amazes me is that the response to a tragedy … we are praying for … implies that these people must be so occupied with prayer that ther is no time available for their occupation, or, is it sufficient to ‘bulk’ pray, similar to bulk sins in the confessional.

      Liked by 1 person

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