A Pennsylvania couple that believes in divine healing is facing 20 years in prison today after pleading no contest to a third-degree murder charge after a second child died from pneumonia.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible are being sentenced today for the death of their 8-month-old son Brandon.
The couple had been on probation for ten years after the death of another child due to pneumonia. A part of the probation for the conviction on involuntary manslaughter was an order that they seek medical attention for any one of their children who fall ill in spite of their religious faith.
The Schaibles belong to a small Pentecostal church in Philadelphia where the church’s pastor said the deaths of the child were due to a spiritual lack in the couple’s lives. The pastor said none of the church’s families will seek medical care.
Lawyers for the couple say that their religious beliefs will be prominently brought up at the sentencing.
The couple has seven surviving children.
Britain’s chief medical officer is warning that the world could find itself “in a health system not dissimilar to the early 19th century at some point” as more bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.