Parents acquitted in child’s death

OREGON CITY – An Oregon couple who relied on prayer instead of medical care were acquitted of manslaughter Thursday in the death of their 15-month-old daughter.

The jury convicted the father, Carl Brent Worthington, of criminal mistreatment, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of a year in jail. The mother, Raylene Worthington, was acquitted in the 2008 death of their daughter Ava.

Both had faced manslaughter charges, which could have carried a sentence of up to six years in prison. The mother also was acquitted of criminal mistreatment.

The prosecution said Ava Worthington failed to flourish through most of her life because of a cyst on her neck that impeded her breathing and eating, contributing to her fatal pneumonia. She died on a Sunday evening after family and church members prayed over her and anointed her with olive oil.

The state medical examiner said she could easily have been saved with antibiotics.

But the defense attacked the credibility of the state’s expert witnesses and said the child died of a fast-moving form of sepsis, an infection. The Worthingtons testified that the cyst was a trait in the father’s family and that they thought their child only had a cold.

Jurors saw the Worthingtons as loving, caring parents, said 25-year-old juror Ashlee Santos.

“They’re people. They’re not monsters,” she said at a press conference at the Clackamas County courthouse. “They had no intention of harming their child. They’re good parents.”

She said the father was convicted of criminal mistreatment because the mother wasn’t monitoring the girl as closely as he was, so he was more responsible for her condition.

During the trial, the defense made a point of noting that in families of the Worthingtons’ church, the Followers of Christ, husbands make all important decisions.

District Attorney John Foote said Thursday that prosecutors were “saddened and disappointed,” convinced the facts were clear in this case, and determined to be aggressive in enforcing “laws that require parents to protect their children regardless of their religious faith.”

The Followers of Christ shuns conventional medicine in favor of faith healing. The church has been in Oregon City since early in the 20th century.