A jury in Massachusetts on June 14 convicted the leader of a small religious sect of first-degree murder in the starvation death of his infant son.
Following the verdict, Jacques Robidoux, 29, leader of “the Body” – an Attleboro, Mass.-based sect that rejects modern medicine and believers in direct revelation from God – was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In early 1999, Michelle Mingo, Robidoux-s sister and a member of the sect, had a vision that Robidoux and his wife, Karen, should stop feeding solid foods to their then 10-month-old son Samuel and only breast-feed him. Karen Robidoux was pregnant at the time and was not able to produce enough breast milk.
Samuel Robidoux died in April 1999, a few days before his first birthday.
Karen Robidoux has been charged with second-degree murder and faces a trial later this month. Mingo has been charged with being an accessory in Samuel’s death.
(RNS)
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