14 members of an Australian religious group are convicted over diabetic girl's death

apnews.com 14 members of an Australian religious group are convicted over diabetic girl's death

Two bereaved parents and 12 fellow members of an Australian religious congregation accused of killing an 8-year-old girl by withholding her diabetes medication have been found guilty of her manslaughter.Elizabeth Rose Struhs died in 2022, at her family’s home in Toowoomba in Queensland state after s

Elizabeth Rose Struhs died on Jan. 7, 2022 at her family’s home in Toowoomba in Queensland state after six days without her prescribed insulin shots for type-1 diabetes.

Her father, Jason Richard Struhs, 53, and the leader of the family’s religious group called “The Saints,” Brendan Luke Stevens, 63, had been charged with the more serious crime of murder, but Queensland Supreme Court Justice Martin Burns found both guilty of her manslaughter.

Burns also found another 12 members of the congregation, including the victim’s mother, Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, and the victim’s bother Zachary Alan Struhs, 22, guilty of manslaughter. No one charged escaped conviction.

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14 members of an Australian religious group are convicted over diabetic girl's death

apnews.com /article/australia-manslaughter-diabetes-toowoomba-struhs-1454e2c866e816b2b22ba51df2d7de98

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9 comments

Speaking on behalf of all defendants at the trial’s opening statements, Stevens argued they held a reasonable belief that God would heal the child. The defendants all represented themselves and each spoke on their own behalf during the closing statements.
Burns urged them all to get lawyers before they are sentenced.
Stretching the definition of reasonable to breaking point.
- I think they'd tried and failed this one before.

They must have really bitten their tongues to avoid the word "cult".
The best medical advice I can give is to disregard medical advice from religious people.
Also: Only six days to finish the job? They probably did more than just withold insulin. I would have thought hyperglycemia (and probably ketoacidosis) wouldn't hit so hard. This takes diabetic mismanagement to new levels.
- Type I diabetes is different than type II. With I you produce no or insufficient insulin. With type II your diet has made you incapable of producing quite enough. It’s of no surprise to me that someone with diabetes bad enough that they are receiving injections by the age of 9 could collapse that quickly.

My partner is T1D, and I've seen what ketoacidosis looks like. It's awful. I simply do not believe that any adult living in a modern society could see those symptoms playing out and think that it would get better without real medical intervention... Especially a father. I think he was looking for an "out," and he thought he'd found it in this cult.
- My cat also has it. She can’t speak to me but I have seen just how terrible she feels after a single missed dose.

Seriously, why do all of these rapey guys look like they were the ones who molested their younger selves?
- That’s the older sister.
  According to the article she welcomed the verdict, so she probably wasn’t a fan of her family.
- swing and a miss

9 comments