Parents of an Australian child who died from a diabetes-related condition have been charged with murder after denying her access to insulin for religious reasons. Jason and Kerrie Struhs, as well as spiritual leader Brendan Luke Stevens, face murder charges, while other members of the group known as “The Saints” are on trial for manslaughter.
A Brisbane judge was shown more than 100 text messages between 52-year-old Jason Struhs and members of the religious group, affirming that he had withdrawn insulin treatment to demonstrate his faith in God’s healing power. Messages exchanged on January 6 – the day the child died – reveal group members telling her parents not to take action to save her because “the Lord is with us.”
Earlier text messages described insulin and other medications as “unnecessary” and “witchcraft.” Even vitamins were discussed in such terms, and one message noted that medicines would be discarded with household garbage.
Elizabeth Struhs was eight years old when her parents withdrew her insulin treatment. Prosecutors told the Brisbane court that the Struhs family had become embroiled in an extremist cult which had also brought the child to the brink of death two years earlier. In 2019, Mr. Struhs also stopped his daughter’s insulin treatment but eventually changed his mind and took her to the hospital, where she remained for over a month.
The girl’s parents were imprisoned for that offense, and Mr. Struhs reportedly became more radical, was baptized, and fully accepted the group’s teachings.
The girl’s brother, Zachery, has responded with outrage at the trial, saying all involved in the legal system would face God’s wrath. The court has also heard recordings of Mrs. Struhs’s position when she defended her actions in 2019. She said her daughter’s illness was “sent from God.” The child’s mother argues that the legal case comes down to whether or not she is allowed to believe in God and reject mainstream medical treatment, which she believes offers no guarantees.
