Ore. faith-healing pair acquitted of manslaughter

July 24, 2009

by The Associated Press

OREGON CITY, Ore. - The jury forewoman in the trial of an Oregon couple acquitted of manslaughter in their daughter's pneumonia death says she felt the pair were ''loving people'' who didn't mean to harm the 15-month-old girl.

The jury knew Carl Brent Worthington and his pregnant wife, Raylene, ''had no intentions of ever harming their child,'' Santos told reporters on Thursday outside the Clackamas County Courthouse. ''If anything, the evidence showed the opposite.''

But the jury did convict Carl Worthington of criminal mistreatment, a misdemeanor, for not taking his daughter, Ava, to see a doctor. He faces a maximum of a year in jail when he is sentenced on July 31.

Raylene Worthington was acquitted Thursday of the same misdemeanor charge after six days of jury deliberations that resulted in a deadlock at one point. Santos said she and others felt Carl Worthington was more accountable for the decisions about the child's care.

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