Prosecutors fight for custody of sect member's missing baby

BOSTON -- The state of Massachusetts is trying to take away a baby it has never seen and cannot prove exists.

The dispute involves a religious sect called The Body that has been implicated by investigators in the 1999 deaths of two babies born to its members. Now, investigators suspect one of the members has given birth again, and a judge has ordered her to turn over her newborn or go to jail.

"The paramount concern is the welfare and safety of an innocent child," Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth Nasif said in a Jan. 17 contempt order against Rebecca and David Corneau. "Unfortunately, the history of this family -- and yes, I'll use the word, this cult -- is severe and replete with situations in which children were put in harm's way."

The judge added: "The body count stands at two in this group. We don't want it to climb to three."

The Corneaus have refused to turn over the baby -- or even to acknowledge if they have had one.

A hearing to determine whether they can remain free while their appeal is scheduled for today before the state's highest court.

Christian sect

The fundamentalist Christian group is made up of about 20 members who live together in Attleboro. The group, which includes several extended families, rejects modern medicine, government and education.

The sect first came under scrutiny in 1999, when a former member gave police a diary that described how the 10-month-old son of a sect member had been starved by his parents on what the group claimed were instructions from God.

Police learned they had more than one baby to find. Rebecca Corneau told them she had a stillborn son, Jeremiah, who was buried.

For months, sect members refused to answer questions about the two babies. Eight members were thrown in jail for contempt. Eventually, David Corneau, after receiving immunity from prosecution, led investigators to the bodies, buried in the wilderness in Maine.

Prosecutors said Jeremiah was not stillborn, and instead died because during his home birth, his lungs were not properly cleared -- a routine procedure in hospital births.

The Corneaus were not charged in Jeremiah's death. But when Rebecca Corneau became pregnant again in 2000, the state confined her for six weeks after she refused to have a prenatal exam. While in custody, she gave birth to a healthy girl, who was immediately placed with a foster family.

Since 1999, the state has taken custody of the Corneaus' four other children, as well as several children of other sect members, and placed them with relatives outside the sect.

Now, state officials are worried another baby was born and is being hidden. They cite testimony from witnesses who said Rebecca Corneau appeared pregnant this fall but no longer appears so. One neighbor said Corneau appeared to be in labor shortly after Thanksgiving.

The Corneaus' lawyer, J.W. Carney Jr., and the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized the state for trying to take custody of a child it has never seen and has no proof has been abused.