Faith-Healing Parents Guilty Of Neglecting Son

OREGON CITY, Ore. -- An Oregon couple who practice faith healing were convicted of criminally negligent homicide Tuesday for not seeking medical help for their 16-year-old son, who died of a urinary tract infection, Portland TV station KPTV reported.

Ten of 12 jurors found Jeff and Marci Beagley guilty on the second day of deliberations.

The Beagleys are members of the Followers of Christ Church in Oregon City and believe in prayer rather than modern medicine. Their son, Neil, died of complications from the urinary tract infection in June 2008.

The couple's 15-month-old granddaughter, Ava Worthington, died in March 2008 of pneumonia and a blood infection.

Ava's parents, Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington, were acquitted of manslaughter in her death, although Brent Worthington was convicted of misdemeanor criminal mistreatment.

The Beagleys will be sentenced Feb. 18. Each faces 16 to 18 months in prison because neither has a criminal record.

"They got a fair trial, but I disagree with some rulings made by the court," defense attorney Wayne Mackeson said.

He said the couple would consider appealing the case.

Juror Bob Zegar said reaching the verdict was heart-wrenching.

"It was real tough. Everyone broke down because (the Beagleys) didn’t want their child to die. It's a lose-lose for everybody," he said.

The couple and other church members at the hearing declined to comment.

During the trial, prosecutors argued the Beagleys had a duty as parents to provide medical care for their son. The defense team said the teenager had symptoms more like a cold or the flu, and his parents were watching him closely while trying to help him recover.

Doctors testified that Neil suffered from serious kidney disease resulting from a constriction in his bladder present at birth. A catheter could have saved his life, the medical examiner said.

State authorities have found that a number of children whose families belonged to the Followers of Christ had died at an early age, leading to a 1999 state law that limits faith healing as a defense in such deaths. The trial of the Beagleys was the second major test of the new law.

Oregon law allows children ages 15 and older to receive or refuse medical treatment without permission from their parents.