A Wisconsin man who opted for prayer over medical care to heal his daughter was found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide on Saturday (Aug.1).
Dale Neumann, 47, was convicted in the March death of his 11-year-old daughter, Madeline, who suffered from undiagnosed diabetes and died on the floor of her family’s Weston home surrounded by people praying for her recovery, according to The Associated Press.
Neumann’s conviction came just one day after an Oregon judge sentenced Carl Worthington to jail for two months, followed by five years of probation for failing to provide medical care to his dying child.
Worthington, 29, an Oregon City painting contractor, was convicted on the misdemeanor criminal mistreatment charge but acquitted of the more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter. His wife and co-defendant, Raylene Worthington, was acquitted of all charges.
In the long history of child deaths associated with the Followers of Christ church in Oregon City, Worthington is the first church member to be convicted for shunning medicine in favor of faith healing.
In Wisconsin, Neumann testified Thursday that he believed God would heal his daughter. He said that he thought his daughter had the flu or a fever. Someone called 911 when Madeline stopped breathing.
“If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God,” Neumann said in court. “I am not believing what he said he would do.”
According to the Wausau Daily Herald, Marathon County Assistant District Attorney LaMont Jacobson said that the girl could have survived if she’d received medical treatment.
Neumann’s wife, Leilani, 41, was convicted of the same crime as her husband in the spring. The couple will be sentenced October 6 and face up to 25 years in prison.
By S.J. Velasquez and Rick Bella
Religion News Service
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