<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>339168</docID> <postdate>2025-02-27 09:17:11</postdate> <headline>Cult’ members jailed for gambling with child’s life</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-337407" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/A-coroner-will-investigate-eight-year-old-Elizabeth-Struhs_-death-after-her-medicine-was-withheld-1.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="675" /></p> <caption>Eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs... "Her kind soul and infectious laughter will forever hold a place in our hearts as we remember her," said sister Jayde Struhs. Photo: Jayde Struhs</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Savannah Meacham</strong> and <strong>Laine Clark</strong> in Brisbane</span></p> <p><strong>Convinced God would heal her, Elizabeth Struhs' parents were encouraged by a church group to gamble with the eight-year-old's life and withhold her medication.</strong></p> <p>For days Elizabeth suffered a slow and painful death as her body shut down from a lack of insulin in her family's home west of Brisbane in January 2022.</p> <p>Instead of providing life-saving insulin, her parents and brother gathered around her with other members of religious group "the Saints" and held a vigil, praying.</p> <p>More than three years after the "profoundly disturbing" death, Elizabeth's father, Jason Richard Struhs, 53, and mother, Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, received 14-year jail terms at Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday.</p> <p>They were sentenced for manslaughter along with the 12 other group members after being found guilty in a 2024 judge-alone trial.</p> <p>Justice Martin Burns found them all responsible for the child's death, saying they staked her life on their personal religious beliefs.</p> <p>"Each of you engaged in some sort of spiritual gamble with the life of a child," he told court.</p> <p>"The arrogance of your belief... remains bewildering."</p> <p>The Saints leader Brendan Stevens received 13 years imprisonment with Justice Burns calling him a "highly dangerous individual".</p> <p>Elizabeth's brother Zachary Alan Struhs, 22, received six years with the other church group members – including Stevens' wife and six children – sentenced to terms ranging from six to nine years.</p> <p>In 2019, Elizabeth was minutes from death when she was rushed to hospital by her father with her then-undiagnosed diabetes causing damaging changes to her blood chemistry.</p> <p>Her parents were charged and convicted of failing to provide the necessities of life to Elizabeth for her medical treatment.</p> <p>Kerrie Struhs was jailed after maintaining she would continue refusing medical treatment to her daughter despite the near-death experience.</p> <p>Her husband received a suspended sentence, promising to never let it happen again.</p> <p>But he slowly began to change his beliefs while his wife was behind bars, worn down by church members.</p> <p>He eventually agreed to join the Saints, becoming baptised in August 2021 in what he described as the "greatest day of my life".</p> <p>His wife returned home on December 16, 2021 and he stopped giving Elizabeth her rapid-acting insulin on New Year's Day, later ceasing her remaining slow-release doses.</p> <p>She died six days later while lying on a mattress in the Toowoomba family home's living room.</p> <p>Justice Burns said Stevens "procured and aided" Elizabeth's unlawful killing alongside the other church group members - including his wife and kids - by encouraging Jason Struhs to stop providing insulin.</p> <p>Without Stevens' "intense and unrelenting" pressure to cease Elizabeth's medical treatment, the girl might still be alive today, he said.</p> <p>Justice Burns slammed the church group for letting their faith blind them as Elizabeth suffered, taking the "life of a vibrant, happy child who should have gone on to enjoy a full life".</p> <p>He said it was unlikely any of the members would be rehabilitated during their time in prison nor would the hefty sentences act as a deterrent.</p> <p>Justice Burns warned if the conduct of the group was repeated in the case of any other child he had no doubt it would pose a "serious risk" to their life.</p> <p>Elizabeth's sister Jayde Struhs welcomed the sentences, saying it finally provided justice for a young, bright girl with big dreams of helping others with diabetes.</p> <p>"Her kind soul and infectious laughter will forever hold a place in our hearts as we remember her," she told reporters.</p> <p>Female church group members were dressed casually with the majority of the men in dress shirts as they chatted and smiled before their sentences were handed down.</p> <p>After calling each sentence, Justice Burns called for them to be "sent down" to their cells.</p> <p>https://citynews.com.au/2025/cult-led-family-from-baptism-joy-to-girls-slow-death/</p> </body>