Latest news with #ElizabethStruhs
ABC News
09-08-2025
- ABC News
Child's death drives churches to call out coercive control and cult-like behaviour
How did one man convince 13 other people to let an eight-year-old girl die? This is the question haunting many people of faith in the southern Queensland town of Toowoomba. Elizabeth Struhs died after members of a cult called The Saints withdrew her medication for her type 1 diabetes. They prayed and sang around her until she perished. Then they prayed to God for her resurrection. Fourteen members of The Saints, including Elizabeth's parents, are now serving jail time for manslaughter. The leader of the group is Brendan Stevens, a self-styled pastor who exerted absolute control. He taught followers that doctors and medications were evil, and that only God could heal. According to Brendan, you couldn't be a Christian without the physical manifestation of speaking in tongues. Without that, he argued, you were not imbued with the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Brendan viewed himself as the messenger of God and his followers as chosen ones, superior to normal human beings. His extreme Pentecostal theology led his members on what's known as a "purity spiral". Kerrie Struhs, the mother of Elizabeth, was a devotee. This wasn't the first time she had rejected a doctor's advice to give her daughter insulin. Two years before, in 2019, Kerrie refused to follow a doctor's instructions. On July 15, 2019, she had the following text message exchange with Brendan: Kerrie: I know you are already praying but could some of you have some praying NOW for Elizabeth and me. Brendan: Yes indeed Kerry. God is faithful praise God ... in my vision I see Elizabeth turning to you and saying " I am getting better mummy …" Kerrie: AMEN It can't happen any other way. A day after those text messages were sent, Elizabeth was in deep trouble. She could no longer walk. Kerrie sent another text message to Brendan, telling him that her husband Jason was taking their daughter to the hospital. "GOD shall prevail not JASON," Brendan replied. Following that 2019 incident, Kerrie was convicted of neglecting her child and served nine months of her sentence. Three weeks after she was released from prison, Elizabeth was dead. Kerrie's police interviews after her child's death reveal a woman without empathy or grief. In the tapes, she believes Elizabeth could be raised from the dead. "We still believe [God] can do anything. He has promised healing," she told officers on January 11, 2022. Kerrie Struhs and her husband Jason received a 14-year sentence for manslaughter. Brendan Stevens was given 13 years and the others in the group, mainly people in their 20s and 30s, received between six and seven years. Two of those young people were Lachlan Schoenfisch and his wife Samantha. He was an engineer with a bright future, she was a dancer and hairdresser. Elizabeth's death rocked the Schoenfisch family. Today, Lachlan's father Cameron is part of a group of Christians in Toowoomba who are speaking out about the problem of cult-like behaviour in their church communities. Soon after joining The Saints, Lachlan and Samantha tried to recruit Cameron and his wife Jen. "Lachlan wanted to tell us about his experience and … the teaching of Brendan Stevens, who claimed to be without sin and to be the messenger of God," Cameron tells ABC TV's Compass. He recalls being dubious about Brendan's claims, including the idea that people could only be considered Christian if they spoke in tongues. "The proof of receiving the Holy Spirit would be that you would jibber jabber, allegedly speak in tongues, unknown tongues," Cameron says. It was at this point, he and his wife realised they had lost their son to a cult. "My heart was broke," he says. "I've seen all the tragedies that unfold as a result of some of these extreme [religious] teachings, and I'd warned [Lachlan] about those prior, but he couldn't listen. "I said, 'Son, I know what you've got, and I don't want it.'" Three years on from Elizabeth's death, many are concerned that extreme beliefs are still proliferating throughout this part of Queensland. Les Donges was once a member of a cult, but left after long conversations with Cameron Schoenfisch. Les has a close family member who was also involved in Pentecostalism and refused to take his medication for diabetes. That relative nearly died. "He went from about 80 kilos down to less than 50, literally pretty much skin and bone," Les says. "He understood the medical repercussions of not taking insulin. He knew full well that there were issues with eyesight, with blood clots, with limb loss" There were other concerning incidents taking place. Les recalls being told by a pastor about someone trying to raise a deceased person from the grave — during a funeral. "The funeral director was quite aghast, I guess, at somebody praying for this man to be raised as he was being buried," Les says. "Obviously, that wasn't going to happen, and it didn't happen." But there have been glimmers of hope. Out of this tragedy has come a network of Christian pastors who are determined to educate themselves — and their followers — about coercive control. They want to teach people the warning signs of cult behaviour, before it is too late. Denis Lennox was formerly the executive director of Queensland Rural and Remote Medical Support. He is a Christian pastor and a good friend of Cameron Schoenfisch, Lachlan's dad. Denis believes coercive control is endemic to our homes, churches and workplaces. "In many instances, churches have borrowed the system of power that's used in our world generally, including coercion, domination, lauding it over people, and it's replete within our church communities where it should not be," he says. At the same time, he says many churches are in denial about how widespread the problem is in religious communities. "The central process of abuse of power is deception, and deception works best when it's hidden," he says. "The best way to deal with this, in fact, is to expose it to the light, to expose it to the truth, to talk … [to build an] awareness of power and how it can be abused, particularly in our church and family situations, so that we can redress it. Denis and a network of pastors have put together a series of workshops called Time to Do Better, led by a domestic violence expert. They are working on including education about coercive control in every aspect of church life, including bible study groups and children's activities — wherever people come together. For Cameron Schoenfisch and the other families of The Saints members, it is a hard road ahead. The father has a message for his son, who may be soon out on parole: "I would just like to say to Lachlan, 'We love you as much as ever in spite of what you've done. But everything that we do has consequences. Wake up to yourself and come back to us.'" Watch The Cult of the Saints on Compass tonight at 6:30pm on ABC TV, or stream on ABC iview now. Suzanne Smith is a producer and presenter, and author of The Altar Boys.
The Guardian
31-01-2025
- The Guardian
The baptism of Jason Struhs - and how it led to the death of his daughter Elizabeth
In late January, a Queensland supreme court judge issued his verdict on the death of eight-year-old Toowoomba girl Elizabeth Struhs. He found Brendan Stevens, the leader of a religious sect known as the Saints, and Elizabeth's father, Jason Struhs, not guilty of murder. But he did find them guilty of manslaughter, along with 12 other members of the Saints. In Jason's case, the court found that his religious faith was so strong, he believed Elizabeth would be saved by a miracle.
The Guardian
30-01-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
We are seeing anti-medical, anti-science narratives everywhere – how can GPs like me respond?
On Wednesday, a jury found that fourteen members of the religious group 'The Saints' were guilty of the manslaughter of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs. Two were acquitted of murder. As a doctor and a mother I read the news and felt deep grief. Under the guidance of religious leaders, the family had withheld life-sustaining modern medicine. As little Elizabeth lay dying from diabetic ketoacidosis, the adults – her parents among them – were alleged to have prayed and sang, instead of giving her insulin and vital medical care. This was not the first time they had stopped her from receiving medical care: her mother had previously been jailed over Elizabeth's near-death medical neglect. This was an entirely preventable illness and death. As a parent, I feel sick that a little girl could be abused in this way, under the guise of God's 'healing' powers. I am seeing the rise of anti-medical, anti-science narratives everywhere. A patient in my clinic tells us that she has stopped her HIV antiviral tablets, because her pastor told her she has been healed by prayer. A parent rejects mental health treatment for his impulsive, suicidal teenager, telling me that ADHD and major depression are made-up, modern conditions. A pregnant mother asks me to sign her Advanced Care Directive, saying she declines blood products in the event of a life-threatening bleed during birth, worried that she could receive 'vaccine-contaminated' blood. Another tells me she will 'free-birth' without midwifery or medical care. During the Covid pandemic, conspiracy theorists distributed junk maps of Covid-19 cases connecting them to 5G mobile phone towers. As a result, I spent countless hours doing community outreach, health promotion work and endless individual consultations trying to debunk pseudoscience and explaining (often unsuccessfully) the risk-benefit ratios of vaccines. In the last year, we have seen outbreaks of pertussis, measles, chickenpox, hepatitis and influenza, often linked to pockets of vaccine refusal. Medical doctors and scientists now face a barrage of anti-science, anti-medicine narratives, and it feels like we are losing the battle. We are no longer trusted instinctively. So how do we engage with people who mistrust us? How do we engage with the narratives that paint modern medicine as evil? The parents of Elizabeth Struhs appear to have truly believed that their God would save her. That they were acting in her best interests. They seem to have believed that science and faith were incompatible. On the one hand, there are many good reasons to challenge medical practice. Medicine, and medical culture, is always evolving. Western medicine is emerging from a patriarchal, hierarchical way of operating. We all need to get better at listening, especially to those who have faced historical discrimination. Medicine holds the same biases as broader society, and these biases need unpicking. We need better medical research, more social diversity among healthcare providers, affordable care, more inclusive clinical guidelines, better clinical communication, better teaching. We need to be able to better support those who are stressed, fearful, and not coping with the demands of chronic illness. We need systems that support health workers to take time, listen and thoughtfully acknowledge patients' concerns, especially for vulnerable families and children. On the other hand, the amount of medical misinformation is overwhelming. For many, the promise of an 'all natural' cure is intoxicating: a simpler, purer way of life. As clinicians, how do we walk the tightrope of patient-centred care: how do we respect patient perspectives and preferences, acknowledge our limitations, while clearly signalling the often dangerous nonsense being peddled? On a scale larger than ever, we see misinformation, false promises, faith-healing and fraudulent 'science' propagated by TikTok influencers, 'wellbeing' whackos, religious leaders, faith healers and some alternative medicine practitioners. Also of concern, US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw from, and defund, the World Health Organization, the global body for evidence-based public health. In recent days, he announced that he would attempt to halt PEPFAR's global HIV medicine distribution. If it had succeeded, it would have meant as many as 600,000 HIV-related deaths over the next decade in South Africa alone. Untreated, unchecked HIV could also mean worsening spread and drug-resistance across the globe. These anti-medical narratives have consequences for individual patients, and for communities across the world. My patients are being denied, and in some cases are denying themselves, modern medicine that prevents disease and suffering. I don't know how to combat this, except to say that many of us are thinking about it. Worrying about it. Working on it. Our worst sorrow is when vulnerable children who rely on parents and caregivers, are brought into care late, or not at all. In the news articles, little Elizabeth Struhs looks as vital and joyful as my own little girls. She had a well-understood medical condition, type 1 diabetes. It could have been managed. Instead of turning to the medical profession for support, her father turned to a religious group for psychological and logistical support. I am so angry. And I am so sorry that we have failed this little sweetheart: not just doctors, but all of us. Dr Mariam Tokhi is a general practitioner, and teaches narrative medicine at The University of Medicine.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Yahoo
Australian sect members guilty of causing girl's death
Fourteen members of an Australian religious group have been convicted of the manslaughter of an eight-year-old diabetic girl who was denied insulin for almost a week. Elizabeth Struhs died at home in 2022, having suffered from diabetic ketoacidosis, which causes fatally high blood sugar. The court heard that Elizabeth's treatment was withheld because the group, known as the Saints, opposed medical care, believing God would heal her. Her father Jason and the group's leader Brendan Stevens were on trial for murder but were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Twelve other members, including Elizabeth's mother and brother, were also convicted of manslaughter. All had pleaded not guilty. The judge-alone trial lasted several months and has received international attention since it began in July 2024. Prosecutors called some 60 witnesses when building their case, painting a picture of an "intelligent" child who suffered greatly in her final days. "She was described as speaking little, needing help going to the toilet, and being incontinent," prosecutor Caroline Marco said of the lead-up to Elizabeth's death, adding that the girl would have endured vomiting, extreme lethargy, and a loss of consciousness. The congregation, meanwhile, prayed and sung for Elizabeth, whose health deteriorated as she lay on a mattress on the floor of her home in Toowoomba, about 125km (78 miles) west of Brisbane. However, no effort was made to call a doctor, and authorities were not notified until 36 hours after her death, as the group believed she could be brought back to life, the court heard. The 14 defendants, aged between 22 and 67, represented themselves at trial, having all refused legal representation.
