© Brian Davies/The Register-GuardBrandi Bellew and her husband Russel Bellew leave a Lane County courtroom Tuesday in Eugene.
Russel and Brandi Bellew each pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court to charges of criminally negligent homicide, as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
The Bellews - who are members of a church that generally believes in using prayer instead of modern medicine to treat illnesses - avoided jail in the plea deal, but will spend the next five years on probation. During that time, they will be required to contact a doctor whenever any of their six surviving children suffer from an ailment that causes them to miss school for more than one day.
The Bellews were arrested in February after an autopsy revealed that 16-year-old Austin Sprout had died two months earlier from an infection that resulted from a ruptured appendix. The teen was Brandi Bellew's biological child and Russel Bellew's stepson.
The exact cause of Sprout's death had not been publicly disclosed before Lane County prosecutor Erik Hasselman detailed the case in court on Tuesday.
Sprout, who was a junior at Creswell High School, had been sick with a variety of cold- and flu-like symptoms for about 1½ weeks before he died, Hasselman said.
"The family, through their reliance on faith, ended up praying for his recovery," Hasselman said.
He added that the Bellews and their surviving children - who attend the General Assembly and the Church of the First Born in Pleasant Hill - told investigators that Sprout did not want a doctor to diagnose his illness.
"It appeared that (Sprout) wanted to respect his faith and the manner in which he was brought up," Hasselman said.
But under Oregon law, a person must be 18 or older to make decisions regarding his or her own medical care.
After Sprout died at home last Dec. 20, family members phoned a local mortuary in an attempt to make funeral arrangements, Hasselman said. Someone at the mortuary then called the Lane County Medical Examiner's Office, which prompted Lane County sheriff's officials to launch a death investigation.
A grand jury subsequently indicted the Bellews on charges of second-degree manslaughter, which is defined in part as causing a dependent person's death by neglect or maltreatment.
Had the couple been convicted of manslaughter, they each would have faced a mandatory minimum prison sentence of six years and three months. They were instead placed on probation after being allowed to plead guilty to the less-serious felony charge of criminally negligent homicide.
The Bellews declined to offer any statement regarding Sprout's death when given the opportunity in court.
About 40 of their supporters attended the hearing. When it ended, the couple - who had been barred by court officials from contacting each other during the past seven months - locked in a long embrace. By that time, many onlookers had tears in their eyes.
Brandi Bellew, 36, and her 40-year-old husband each spent four days in jail following their arrests. Family members bailed them out, but a jail release agreement ordered them to live apart and not speak to each other until the criminal matter played out in court.
The Bellews have been allowed in recent months to take turns caring for their surviving children, under a court-approved arrangement that required them to closely monitor the youngsters' health needs while being supervised by a state-appointed "safety service provider."
The children - the youngest of whom is a toddler, the oldest 17 - became wards of the state in April, although they have been living in their home with their mother. A judge will decide whether the Bellews may regain full custody of the children.
The Bellews have "cooperated completely" with child welfare workers from the state Department of Human Services, who felt it would have been "detrimental to the children's welfare" if the couple had been sentenced to jail in connection with Sprout's death, Hasselman said.
Brandi Bellew's attorney, Bob Schrank of Eugene, said in court that a number of community members - including many Creswell residents who are not members of the Bellews' church - expressed support for the couple as their criminal case unfolded.
"The parenting abilities here are just great," Schrank said of the Bellews.
Eugene attorney Hugh Duvall, who represented Russel Bellew in court, said his client is "fully committed" to seeking medical care for his children when they become ill.
Hasselman and fellow Assistant District Attorney Erin Zemper, meanwhile, have met with church officials to make it clear that medical neglect of a child won't be tolerated by Lane County authorities. A two-page letter authored by Hasselman was distributed in August to the church's membership. The letter explains relevant state laws and urges parents to call a doctor whenever there is a health-related concern regarding a child.
Hasselman said in court that church members have been receptive to the outreach.
"This is not a denomination that feels that its faith is at odds with the laws of the community," he said. About 60 families attend the church in Pleasant Hill.
Previous cases
Elsewhere, the General Assembly and the Church of the First Born has been linked to a number of deaths related to its spiritual healing practices.
In the mid-1990s, a Brownsville couple who attended the Church of the First Born became the first people in Oregon to be prosecuted for following their religious beliefs rather than taking their ill child to a doctor.
Loyd and Christina Hays initially faced charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 7-year-old son, who had a treatable form of leukemia.
A Linn County jury in 1996 convicted Loyd Hays of criminally negligent homicide, but acquitted his wife of all charges. A judge sentenced Loyd Hays to probation in the case.
In 1999, a new state law eliminated spiritual healing defenses against charges of second-degree manslaughter, first- and second-degree criminal mistreatment and nonpayment of child support.
Last year, Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a bill into law that removed the defense for all homicide charges. The new law came on the heels of several high-profile faith healing cases involving members of the Followers of Christ church in Oregon City.
In one case, a judge handed down a 75-month sentence to the parents of a premature baby who died without medical intervention just hours after being born.
Another case involved a 16-year-old boy who died from complications related to a urinary tract obstruction. His parents - Jeff and Marci Beagley - were each sentenced in 2010 to 16 months in prison after being convicted by a jury of criminally negligent homicide.
Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote sent a letter in April 2010 to families who belong to the Followers of Christ church that was similar in content to the one that Hasselman addressed to the membership of the Bellews' church.
Clackamas County prosecutor Greg Horner, who handled the Beagley case, said on Tuesday that Foote's letter to the Followers of Christ church "was met with silence." The Beagley case went to trial, Horner added, after the couple indicated they were not interested in plea negotiations.
Horner said he understands the public's interest in criminal cases involving families who seek to heal their children through prayer.
"It captures people's attention because it can be perceived as a clash of values" between religious freedom and child protection issues, Horner said.
While parents are legally responsible for providing their children with appropriate medical care, adults are not required to visit a doctor if they do not wish to do so.
The Bellews married after both were widowed. Hasselman said their previous spouses both died from infections that would have been "highly treatable" had they sought medical attention.
Brandi Bellew is the biological mother of three of her surviving children. Russel Bellew fathered two of the youngsters with his previous wife. The sixth child was born to the couple in 2010.
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