{celebrating a decade of learning to write in front of an audience}

Exorcism

Terrance Cottrell was an autistic 8-year-old boy.  His mother was a member of a storefront fringe Christian church called Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith.  Believing the boy to be possessed by evil spirits, the pastor of the church crushed the boy to death during an exorcism service while his mother held his legs down.  While the death was ruled a homicide, the pastor was only charged with (and convicted of) felony child abuse rather than murder, a decision made because the pastor believed he was helping the boy.



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