(RNS2-JUL23) Oregon officials have seized custody of seven-month-old Alayna Wyland from her parents because of the growth above her eye, which her parents refuse to treat with conventional medicine because they believe in faith-healing. For use with RNS-DIGEST-JUL23, transmitted July 23, 2010. RNS photo via The Oregonian.
OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) A couple who left their infant daughter’s fate to God rather than seek medical treatment for a mass that grew over her left eye will face charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment.
Prosecutors said Thursday (July 22) during a custody hearing that a grand jury has indicted Timothy and Rebecca Wyland of Beavercreek, Ore., who belong to the Followers of Christ church.
Two separate sets of parents from the church have faced criminal charges in the faith-healing deaths of their children; one was acquitted on nearly all charges last year, while the other was found guilty this spring.
The Wylands’ 7-month-old daughter, Alayna, was placed in state custody earlier this month after child-welfare workers received a tip about the untreated and ballooning growth. Doctors said that the condition could cause permanent damage or loss of vision.
The Wylands will probably be arraigned next week. Under Oregon law, it is a crime for parents to intentionally and knowingly withhold necessary and adequate medical attention from their children.
The Wylands and their church reject medical care in favor of faith-healing — anointing with oil, laying on of hands, prayer and fasting. The parents testified at a recent court hearing that they never considered getting medical attention for Alayna.
According to court documents, Rebecca Wyland anointed Alayna with oil each time she changed the girl’s diaper and wiped away the yellow discharge that seeped daily from the baby’s left eye.
The couple’s attorneys offered a plan they said would guarantee the child would receive medical care recommended by doctors, including regular visits from state workers and ongoing monitoring.
Attorney Michael Clancy, who represents Alayna, also urged that the girl be sent home, but was skeptical that prosecutors or child-protection authorities would accept any plan to quickly reunite the family.
“There is no plan, even if we came up with 100 pages of stuff … that is going to be satisfactory,” he said.
Alayna had a small mark over her left eye at birth.
The area started swelling, and the fast-growing mass of blood vessels, known as a hemangioma, eventually caused her eye to swell shut and pushed the eyeball down and outward and started eroding the eye socket bone around the eye.
Most hemangiomas are treated as soon as they are detected, said Dr. Thomas Valvano, who testified at a recent hearing. “They never get this large,” said Valvano, a pediatrician. “This was medical neglect.”
