Grand Jury Will Decide If Parents To Blame For Baby's Death

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. -- A grand jury in Morgan County will decide if parents who didn't seek medical treatment for their premature child committed a criminal act.

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Grand Jury Will Decide If Parents To Blame For Baby's Death

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The case pits religious beliefs against common practice, with the death of a 6-day-old baby at its heart, RTV6's Jeremy Brilliant reported.

The grand jury will convene within the next four to six weeks to determine if Louis and Patricia Leeman broke the law by failing to get medical help for their daughter.

Sarah Leeman weighed just under three pounds. She could fit inside two cupped hands. Leeman was born two months prematurely at her Martinsville home and died there just six days later.

Prosecutors said she had a treatable infection, but that her parents never sought medical care.

The Leemans belong to the General Assembly and Church of the First Born in Gosport and commonly turn to prayer instead of modern medicine.

Investigators said Louis Leeman told them he called 911 the night she died to get medical help.

"At the time the parents see this problem, they call 911. The better question is, why did we ever get to this place in the first place?" prosecutor Steve Sonnega said.

This is not the first time members of this denomination have clashed with the judicial system over the death of an infant, Brilliant reported.

In August, Dewayne and Meleta Schmidt, of Franklin, were sentenced to jail time for reckless homicide death of their day-old daughter, who had a treatable infection.

Morgan County prosecutors studied the results of that trial to build their own case.

"We try not to interfere with parents decisions about education, discipline, values -- those are a parent's rights," Sonnega said. "But, when it comes to something as fundamental as human life, there's got to be some boundaries."

RTV6 sought comment from members of the Church of the First Born, but none wanted to comment.

However, church elder Thomas Nation told Brilliant by phone that a decision about charges or jail time rests solely with God.