The parents of an eight-year-old Australian girl who died after they withheld her insulin – encouraged by members of a small Christian sect who believed God would save her – have been sentenced to at least 14 years in prison.
The members of the fringe religious group had been found guilty of the manslaughter of the girl after “arrogantly and stubbornly” putting their faith “above the life of a young child”.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco sentenced Elizabeth Struhs’ parents, Jason and Kerrie Struhs, to 15 years, and other members of the group will serve seven to 12 years.
ABC News reports that the body of Elizabeth, who died after her insulin was withheld, was found at her Toowoomba home, outside Brisbane, in January 2022.
Marco told the court the religious group “allowed their faith to wilfully blind them of the consequences … putting their love of God above the life of a child”.
The leader of the congregation, Brendan Stevens, and the father, Jason Struhs were acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.
Twelve others, including Kerrie Struhs, were found guilty of manslaughter.
In delivering her victim impact statement, Elizabeth’s sister, Jayde Struhs, told the court her sister died because her parents were indoctrinated into the church.
“She died because the people who were supposed to take care of her, didn’t.”
Marco said Elizabeth’s death would have been protracted and severe, and that her parents allowed her to suffer.
For days, as the eight-year-old lay dying from diabetes, more than a dozen adults – her mother and father among them – prayed and sang songs instead of seeking life-saving medical treatment.
She died five days after her father had declared that she no longer needed medication for her Type 1 diabetes.
Her mother had encouraged Elizabeth’s father to withhold her insulin, as did the 12 other members of the Bible-based sect known as “The Saints”, who were also found guilty of manslaughter, reports CNN.
It is not the first time the Struhs have been prosecuted for failing to give Elizabeth medical care.
In 2019, she was admitted to hospital for a month after becoming gravely ill from undiagnosed and untreated diabetes. At the time, her father rejected the sect’s insistence that God would heal her and eventually took his daughter to hospital.
That time, he pleaded guilty to “failing to provide the necessaries of life to Elizabeth” and was given a suspended sentence after testifying against his wife. Kerrie Struhs pleaded not guilty and was given an 18-month sentence.
What happened next all but sealed Elizabeth’s fate.
While Kerrie Struhs was in prison, her husband’s 17-year opposition to the sect crumbled, the trial heard, and he became “baptised” as its newest member.
Elizabeth died just three weeks after her mother was released from prison on parole, telling her parole officer she’d withhold her daughter’s treatment again, if given the choice. She also said she wouldn’t intervene if anyone tried to help Elizabeth – but no one did.
Jason Struhs told police his wife wasn’t very religious during the first few years of their marriage, but that changed when she met sect leader Brendan Stevens and his wife Loretta in 2004.
As Kerrie Struhs grew closer to the Stevens family, she began to reject medical treatment. Jason Struhs remained a staunch non-believer, who insisted their eight children be vaccinated, and who, for a time, moved to the garage to “escape the tension” at home.
His wife told police her husband was an “angry man” who didn’t believe in God, and that she was planning to leave him after her release from prison in December 2021.
But she changed her mind after she discovered that Jason had joined the church, describing him as much calmer.
Jason Struhs told police he had a “mental breakdown” after his wife went to prison and sought support from sect members. When he declared in early January 2022 – just five months after joining the sect – that Elizabeth no longer needed insulin, church members were elated.
However, within days her condition deteriorated, and even as she lay dying with the insulin in the cupboard, no one gave it to her or suggested they seek medical help.
Elizabeth died on 7 January 2022, of diabetic ketoacidosis, a complication caused by a lack of insulin and medical treatment for diabetes – the same condition she had in 2019.
The sect continued to sing, dance and pray around her body for 36 hours before her father said it was time to phone police.
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