In sect that shuns medicine, case against pastor is novel
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For the first time in dozens of cases, a pastor in a fundamentalist Christian sect that rejects doctors and drugs has been charged in the death of a child — his own granddaughter — from medical neglect.
The novel prosecution is raising hopes among some advocates that it might spur change in a church that has resisted it.
Faith Tabernacle Congregation has long told adherents to place their trust in God alone for healing. As a result, dozens of children, mostly in Pennsylvania, have died of preventable and treatable illnesses. Church members reject modern medicine as a bedrock tenet of the faith even as some of them have faced manslaughter charges in child deaths dating back 35 years.
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Until now, though, no sect leader has ever faced charges.
The pastor was charged under a state law requiring clergy members, teachers and other "mandated reporters" to turn the names of suspected child abusers over to authorities for investigation.