Two parents in Minnesota could face jail time after they allegedly tried to save their dying son with prayers instead of taking him to a hospital.
Authorities charged Timothy and Sarah Johnson last week with child neglect over the March 2015 death of their adopted son Seth. The 7-year-old came down with pancreatitis and acute sepsis, but the parents opted to treat him themselves because they had “issues going to doctors” and were concerned about the medications they would prescribe, according to news station KMSP.
Based off their own research, the couple instead diagnosed Seth with post-traumatic disorder, a brain injury and fetal alcohol syndrome.
“The parents admitted to police that his behavior had changed, that he wasn’t sleeping, was throwing himself down stairs and was taking hours to eat Yet, they refused to do what most parents would have done and take him to a doctor,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement.
In March, Seth was left in the care of his 16-year-old brother at their Plymouth, Minnesota home, while his parents headed out of town for a wedding.
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