In Philadelphia yesterday, Herbert and Catherine Schaible were sentenced to three and one-half to seven years in prison in the faith-healing death from pneumonia of their 8-month old son last year. The couple pleaded no-contest to third degree murder charges in the case. At the time of the death, the couple were already on 10-years probation for the similar death of another of their children for whom they failed to seek medical treatment. (See
prior posting.) The couple belong to the First Century Gospel Church which teaches that illness is to be healed through prayer.
AP reports that the prosecution had asked for sentences of 8 to 16 years:
“It was so foreseeable to me that this was going to happen,” said Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore, who prosecuted both cases. “Everybody in the system failed these children.”
After the first death, she and public defender Mythri Jayaraman agreed that the couple’s beliefs were so ingrained that their children remained at risk. They asked the earlier judge to have the family supervised by a Department of Human Services caseworker. Instead, the judge assigned them to probation officers, who are not trained to monitor children’s welfare.
In sentencing the couple, Judge Benjamin Lerner told them: "You’ve killed two of your children. ... Not God. Not your church. Not religious devotion. You."
