 "Why family, ‘church’ members denied 8-year-old girl life-saving insulin in Australia")
All 14 members of a fringe religious sect in Australia have been found guilty of manslaughter for the killing of an eight-year-old diabetic girl by withholding lifesaving medicine. Her father, Jason Struhs, and the leader of the “church” Brendan Stevens were on trial for murder but were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Elizabeth Rose Struhs died at her family’s home in Toowoomba on Queensland’s Darling Downs on January 7, 2022. Her father called the ambulance 36 hours after her death, telling others that “though God would still raise Elizabeth, they could not leave a corpse in the house,” the ruling said.
Let’s take a closer look.
The tragic life and death of Elizabeth Struhs
Elizabeth Struhs was just shy of her ninth birthday before her death as the 14 members of a small home-based church, including her parents, took her off insulin believing that God would heal her.
She died of diabetic ketoacidosis four days after her father, Jason Struhs, stopped administering the insulin needed for her type 1 diabetes.
On January 1, 2022, Jason stopped giving Elizabeth medication. He told the police this was what “she wanted”, reported The Guardian.
By January 3, she was taken entirely off insulin after which Elizabeth stopped talking and could not go to the toilet herself. Eventually, she stopped speaking. The young girl died on January 7.
Prosecutor Caroline Marco told the Supreme Court of Queensland during the trial that began in July last year, “She was described as speaking little, needing help going to the toilet, and being incontinent.”
Marco added that the girl would have suffered from vomiting, extreme lethargy, and a loss of consciousness, reported BBC.
Jason called emergency services 36 hours after his daughter’s death. Police who reached shortly afterwards heard the church members praying for her resurrection and singing hymns.
The father told the police that day on January 8, “I’m not jumping up and down in joy, but I’m at peace … I gave my little girl what she wanted. And I expect God to look after her.”
When Elizabeth Struhs almost died in 2019
This was not the first time that Elizabeth’s family neglected her ill health. Her mother, Kerrie Struhs, who was a devout member of the cult-like religious sect The Saints for 17 years, was jailed in 2021 for refusing to seek medical help for her daughter when her life was in danger in 2019.
Jason took his daughter to the hospital going against his wife’s beliefs whose strong faith in the Saints made her oppose medical intervention.
As per BBC, the young girl, weighing just 15kg, was admitted to the hospital in a diabetic coma.
At the time, doctors said that Elizabeth, who was six then, would have died within “minutes” had her father not taken her to the hospital, The Telegraph reported.
The young girl was then diagnosed with type 1 diabetes , and her family was informed she would need daily insulin injections.
Jason and Kerrie were both charged over the incident. However, the father, who testified against his wife, was handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty.
Kerrie, who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to imprisonment for five months.
Jason was then left to look after the family and administer insulin to Elizabeth four times a day – which he found draining and difficult, as per news.com.au.
Jason Struhs, who did not believe in God at all, converted in August 2021 after a verbal brawl with his son Zachary Struhs and counselling by the other members of the religious group, reported The Guardian.
Prosecutors said Jason, 53, was pressured by the religious sect to adhere to its extreme beliefs.
The trial
On Wednesday (January 29), Queensland Supreme Court Justice Martin Burns cleared Jason and The Saints group leader Brendan Stevens, 63, of murder.
Elizabeth’s mother Kerrie, 49, and her brother Zachary, 22, were among the 12 other members of the religious sect found guilty of manslaughter.
The members of the group denied pressuring Jason to adopt their extreme beliefs. They also told the police repeatedly they believed Elizabeth would rise from the dead, reported Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Jason told police: “There were no feelings of oh well, that didn’t work.”
“I have to be patient. I have to keep praying. I didn’t sit there and think that I had killed my daughter, I was thinking that she was in a better place now,” he said.
Days after the young girl’s death, police asked Elizabeth’s mother, “What do you think might have happened if she wasn’t taken to hospital the first time?”
“I believe she would have got better and didn’t need any medical assistance at all,” she replied.
When asked how she felt about her daughter’s death, Kerrie replied she was “upset” but it would not make her lose her “faith in God”.
“I’m not ever going to think he’s failed,” Kerrie said, as per ABC. “He can still bring her back, it doesn’t matter where her body is, he can still raise her up and that’s what we still expect.”
Announcing the verdict, Justice Martin Burns said that Jason Struhs and Stevens could not be convicted of murder as prosecutors had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the duo intended to kill Elizabeth.
He said there was a possibility in the “cloistered atmosphere of the church which enveloped [him] and which only intensified once he [Jason] made the decision to cease the administration of insulin, he was so consumed by the particular belief in the healing power of God … that he never came to the full realisation Elizabeth would probably die”.
As per The Telegraph, Elizabeth’s older sister, Jayde Struhs, who left the family years ago and gave evidence about The Saints’s dangerous beliefs during the trial, welcomed the verdicts but raised questions about Queensland’s child protection policies.
“Not a moment has gone by that I haven’t thought about my little sister Elizabeth,” Struhs said outside court.
“We are only here today because more wasn’t done sooner to protect her or remove her from an incredibly unsafe situation in her own home.”
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
