Press Release

Humanists Demand Justice in Senseless Death

For Immediate Release - Contact: Roy Speckhardt (202) 238-9088

(Washington, DC, August 26, 2003) “Were it not for fundamentalist superstition Terrance Cottrell, Jr. would be alive today. Extreme interpretations of scripture are no justification for the physical abuse of a child,” said American Humanist Association executive director Tony Hileman.

Terrance Cottrell, Jr., an autistic 8-year-old boy, died Friday, August 22, during a Milwaukee prayer service aimed at removing the “evil spirits” within him. The medical examiner reported that Cottrell died of suffocation. Police have ruled the death a homicide and have arrested church member, Ray Hemphill, who admitted to sitting on the boy’s chest while his mother and other parishioners held down his arms and legs. This was done as part of their exorcism.

The Faith Temple Church of Apostolic Faith has been involved in controversy before. In 1998 a girl alleged she had been beaten during a service at the church, but no charges were filed. If this warning had been heeded, this exorcism and Cottrell’s senseless death could have been prevented.

Unfortunately, sections of Wisconsin law are proving problematic for the prosecution. One section states that a person cannot be held responsible for the death of an individual simply because religious rituals are used to treat a person instead of normal medical treatment. Another says that a parent cannot be accused of abuse solely because prayer or other religious practices are favored over medical treatment.

Hileman responded, “Cottrell’s wrongful death cannot be ignored because it came at the hands of well meaning, if severely misinformed, religious practitioners. It would only worsen matters if this crime went unpunished because of a legal loophole.”

“As Humanists we demand and expect justice in this tragic example of the pitfalls of blind faith and superstition taken to the extreme,” concluded Hileman.

The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity.

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