OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — Jurors in the trial of an Oregon couple charged with criminal mistreatment in their infant daughter’s medical care have learned the parents offered to take the child to a doctor to keep her out of state custody.
Timothy and Rebecca Wyland are members of the Followers of Christ, a faith-healing congregation. They told investigators they anointed their daughter Alayna with oil and prayed for her as a growth over her left eye ballooned into a golf-ball-sized protrusion.
On Tuesday, defense lawyers began developing their argument that the Wylands are victims of overly aggressive state workers. However, state Department of Human Services caseworker John Faber testified he didn’t feel it was in the girl’s best interest to let her parents act voluntarily. He said taking her to a doctor one time “would not have solved anything.”
The little girl, now 112 years old, has improved under court-ordered medical treatment. She remains in state custody but lives with her parents.
