Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 60
was placed in foster care she had bruising on her buttocks consistent with paddling. Her
older sisters also had thickened skin on their buttocks consistent with paddling."
The affidavit also says, "This practice was common in the religious group in which the
Corneaus were members. The practice of severely paddling the children was believed to be
necessary in order ...that the children's 'will' be 'broken.' "(Paul Edward Parker,
Providence Journal, 1/10/02, Internet)
Commentary: Basic Right Endangered in Attleboro Case
Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, 1/9/02, Internet
"Does a woman's right to control her fertility extend to childbirth? Or have the abortion wars
so warped our perspective that we now define reproductive choice only as a woman's right
to prevent or terminate an unwanted pregnancy? "The question arises in the troubling case
of Rebecca Corneau, the mother whose membership in a religious sect in which two children
died under suspicious circumstances prompted a judge to declare her and others in the
group unfit parents.
"Corneau was not charged in either the death of her son, Jeremiah, who she says was
stillborn, or the death of 10-month-old Samuel, who prosecutors say was starved by his
parents, Jacques and Karen Robidoux, the sect's leaders. "The Robidouxs rightly will stand
trial in March for their son's death, but Corneau's branding as an unfit mother seems to
stem solely from her membership in a sect that refuses to accept modern medical care. In
the fall of 2000, fearing that the fetus she was carrying might meet the same fate as
Jeremiah, Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nassif imprisoned Corneau to await the
birth and to submit to prentatal medical exams against the beliefs of what he called her
''bizarre and dangerous cult.'' Her newborn daughter was placed in foster care with her
three other children.
Nassif's stunning assertion of jurisdiction over the body of a pregnant woman never charged
with a crime was never subject to appellate review because Corneau refused legal
representation.
"Now, based on visual clues that Corneau recently might have been pregnant but no longer
appears to be so, Nassif is back, taking the extraordinary step of awarding the state
temporary custody of an infant who might not exist. Since the state has yet to prove a child
was born, one has to ask how the judge can assert that the phantom infant is in danger of
abuse and neglect. ..."No one wants to see a life endangered, but DSS officials, Nassif,
and Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh have forgotten that the law stands on evidence,
not on speculative fears. Carney is not being hyperbolic when he cautions against a ''witch
hunt'' in this case."
Principles Clash in Attleboro Sect Case
Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, By Globe, 2/3/02, Internet
The ''independent'' investigator appointed by Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P.
Nassif to assess whether David and Rebecca Corneau were fit parents is a self-styled cult
buster committed to luring members away from ''aberrant religious groups.''
The Rev. Robert T. Pardon heads The New England Institute of Religious Research, a
''mission'' he founded to provide ''training in ministering to those caught up in such
destructive groups.'' His Web site names the sect to which the Corneaus belong as one such
cult.
The court's choice of Pardon to make an ''impartial'' assessment of parental fitness bolsters
the couple's contention that bias might have skewed the court's custody decisions. ''Who
cares if he's biased,'' responds Carol Yelverton, spokeswoman for the state Department of
was placed in foster care she had bruising on her buttocks consistent with paddling. Her
older sisters also had thickened skin on their buttocks consistent with paddling."
The affidavit also says, "This practice was common in the religious group in which the
Corneaus were members. The practice of severely paddling the children was believed to be
necessary in order ...that the children's 'will' be 'broken.' "(Paul Edward Parker,
Providence Journal, 1/10/02, Internet)
Commentary: Basic Right Endangered in Attleboro Case
Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, 1/9/02, Internet
"Does a woman's right to control her fertility extend to childbirth? Or have the abortion wars
so warped our perspective that we now define reproductive choice only as a woman's right
to prevent or terminate an unwanted pregnancy? "The question arises in the troubling case
of Rebecca Corneau, the mother whose membership in a religious sect in which two children
died under suspicious circumstances prompted a judge to declare her and others in the
group unfit parents.
"Corneau was not charged in either the death of her son, Jeremiah, who she says was
stillborn, or the death of 10-month-old Samuel, who prosecutors say was starved by his
parents, Jacques and Karen Robidoux, the sect's leaders. "The Robidouxs rightly will stand
trial in March for their son's death, but Corneau's branding as an unfit mother seems to
stem solely from her membership in a sect that refuses to accept modern medical care. In
the fall of 2000, fearing that the fetus she was carrying might meet the same fate as
Jeremiah, Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nassif imprisoned Corneau to await the
birth and to submit to prentatal medical exams against the beliefs of what he called her
''bizarre and dangerous cult.'' Her newborn daughter was placed in foster care with her
three other children.
Nassif's stunning assertion of jurisdiction over the body of a pregnant woman never charged
with a crime was never subject to appellate review because Corneau refused legal
representation.
"Now, based on visual clues that Corneau recently might have been pregnant but no longer
appears to be so, Nassif is back, taking the extraordinary step of awarding the state
temporary custody of an infant who might not exist. Since the state has yet to prove a child
was born, one has to ask how the judge can assert that the phantom infant is in danger of
abuse and neglect. ..."No one wants to see a life endangered, but DSS officials, Nassif,
and Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh have forgotten that the law stands on evidence,
not on speculative fears. Carney is not being hyperbolic when he cautions against a ''witch
hunt'' in this case."
Principles Clash in Attleboro Sect Case
Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, By Globe, 2/3/02, Internet
The ''independent'' investigator appointed by Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P.
Nassif to assess whether David and Rebecca Corneau were fit parents is a self-styled cult
buster committed to luring members away from ''aberrant religious groups.''
The Rev. Robert T. Pardon heads The New England Institute of Religious Research, a
''mission'' he founded to provide ''training in ministering to those caught up in such
destructive groups.'' His Web site names the sect to which the Corneaus belong as one such
cult.
The court's choice of Pardon to make an ''impartial'' assessment of parental fitness bolsters
the couple's contention that bias might have skewed the court's custody decisions. ''Who
cares if he's biased,'' responds Carol Yelverton, spokeswoman for the state Department of
