Christian parents let their baby die because of their faith. Now they’re going to prison.
Rachel and Joshua Piland let their baby girl die from jaundice rather than take her to a doctor. A judge just sentenced them to at least 20 years behind bars.
This newsletter is free and goes out to over 22,000 subscribers, but it’s only able to sustain itself due to the support I receive from a small percentage of regular readers. Would you please consider becoming one of those supporters? You can use the button below to subscribe to Substack or use my usual Patreon page!
Michigan parents who let their own baby die instead of taking her to a doctor who could have helped her, all because of their Christian faith, were sentenced last week to 20 years in prison. It’s the culmination of a years-long saga.
The story began in early 2017, when Abigail Piland was born without any obvious problems. But when the midwife who helped deliver her checked back the next day, Abigail didn’t look healthy. The midwife told mother Rachel Piland to take the child to a hospital because the baby “could suffer brain damage or die if not properly cared for.”
Rachel refused, insisting “God makes no mistakes.”
Days later, Abigail was dead. (Rachel and her husband Joshua then prayed for Abigail’s resurrection. Surprise: That didn’t work, either.)
A medical examiner later attributed the death to “unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia and kernicterus,” both jaundice-related problems that were treatable. Abigail never had the chance to see a doctor when blood was coming out of her mouth, or when she wasn’t eating, or when her skin became further discolored. All because her parents put more trust in God than someone who could actually help.
The Pilands were (initially) charged with involuntary manslaughter. A conviction could have meant up to 15 years behind bars.
There were all sorts of tangential legal issues over the next several years, including whether the Pilands deserved to have custody of their other children. Without getting into all the chaotic details, they currently have four living kids, including two since Abigail’s murder, but all four have been removed from their custody.
This past March, a jury convicted the couple on charges of (second-degree) murder and (first-degree) child abuse.
The jury was allowed to consider lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and third-degree child abuse, as well as not-guilty verdicts, but convicted the Pilands on the most serious charges. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of up to life in prison.
It probably didn’t help that Joshua Piland told the jury he would absolutely allow his two youngest children to die the same way as Abigail:
Joshua Piland testifed Friday that he also wouldn't have sought medical treatment for two of the couple's children born after Abigail died, even though they suffered from the same condition that led to Abigail's death. Those children were seized by the state shortly after birth and received life-saving care at a hospital.
The jury needed only four hours of deliberation before reaching their verdict.
And now, a judge has finally sentenced them. Joshua and Rachel will each spend a minimum of 20 years behind bars—and possibly a lot more.
In separate hearings, [Ingham County Circuit Judge James] Jamo on June 11 sentenced each to 240 months to 540 months, or 20 to 45 years, in prison for second-degree murder, and 225 months to 540 months in prison for first-degree child abuse. Those sentences will run concurrently, and both defendants will get 77 days credit for time served.
What seemed like a factually dense, complicated case turned out to be relatively simple in the end, the judge said. The jury found Abigail died from the intentional withholding of medical care and convicted her parents of murder, he said.
"What you have done ... has impacted multiple lives," he told Rachel Piland.
Part of the reason Jamo didn’t reduce those sentences was because the couple insisted they would murder any future child with a preventative disease because they’ve learned absolutely nothing over the past decade. Their brains are broken because of their religion, and thankfully, the secular courts were willing to do what these Christian parents would not: protect their kids.
Even their own family members urged the judge to resist leniency:
Glenn Kerr told his daughter she abandoned her family for "counterfeit beliefs" and "built a wall to protect your irrational motives."
In a statement read in court, Rachel's brother, Joel Kerr, said the Pilands "chose their beliefs over their children." He asked for sentences "sufficiently long that (the couple) can no longer bring life into the world just to snuff it out."
It’s a fitting end to a couple that believes their faith gives them the right to murder others. Rachel is 38 and Joshua is 44, and even if their actual time in prison is cut short for good behavior, they will likely never be able to have any more kids once they’re free and the ones they have will be legal adults.
By the way, in case you’re wondering about the Pilands’ religion, they belong to two religious groups called Free Saints Assembly and Faith Tech Ministries. Both are Pentecostal. Both believe in faith-healing. But neither of them prohibits families from seeing doctors; they leave that decision to individuals.
As I’ve said many times before, religious faith should never be a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for harming others. Thankfully a judge and jury took a common sense approach to this case instead of pretending the Pilands’ Christianity was a source of virtue.
OMG! My twin sister and I were born with that condition in 1970. We are alive today because my parents listened to the doctors back then.
"God makes no mistakes."
He allowed YOU two to bring a baby into this world, didn't he? No mistakes? Read Genesis 6:6.