OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — A doctor has testified that an Oregon couple charged with criminal mistreatment in their infant daughter’s medical care told him they would not seek medical treatment for the child, even if she faced death.
Dr. Thomas Valvano is a pediatric child abuse expert who testified Wednesday in the Circuit Court trial of Timothy and Rebecca Wyland. The couple belong to the Followers of Christ, a congregation that relies on faith healing.
Valvano said the couple cited their religious convictions as the reason for their stance.
Child-welfare workers took custody of little Alayna last summer to treat a growth that covered her left eye. Doctors who treated her said she was on the verge of blindness in the eye.
Prosecutors contend that although the Wylands have complied with court-ordered medical care for the girl, now 112 years old, they are doing so only to regain legal custody. The child remains in state custody but lives with her parents.
