SYDNEY (AFP) – A judge jailed 14 members of a fringe Australian religious group yesterday over the “slow and painful” death of an eight-year-old diabetic girl who was denied life-saving insulin.
The father and mother of Elizabeth Rose Struhs, as well as the leader and other members of the Saints sect, were convicted of manslaughter last month in the Queensland Supreme Court in Brisbane.
The girl died of ketoacidosis – a severe complication of diabetes – after her insulin medication was halted for days.
“Elizabeth suffered a slow and painful death, and you are all, in one way or another, responsible,” Justice Martin Burns said in a sentencing hearing yesterday.
The mother Kerrie Struhs and father Jason Struhs were each sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Both had been found guilty of abdicating their duty of care to their daughter. “Elizabeth’s death was, and remains, profoundly disturbing, if for no other reason than that it was so entirely and easily preventable,” Burns said.
Sect leader Brendan Stevens was jailed for 13 years.
“Your subsequent attempts to distance yourself from the consequences of your conduct are to be deplored,” Burns said.
You are a dangerous, highly manipulative individual, and the authorities would do well to keep that in mind on your release from prison.”
