Elizabeth Struhs: How young girl’s parents in religious sect The Saints let daughter die without insulin

WARNING: CONFRONTING CONTENT

Elizabeth Rose Struhs had just finished grade three at school and like any child was looking forward to the holidays.

But the eight-year-old never made it to grade four.

The once vibrant and happy child suffered a slow and painful death after her parents stopped her type-1 diabetes medication.

As Elizabeth lay dying on a mattress in the living room of the family home, west of Brisbane, in January 2022, her parents and brother gathered around with 11 other members of a religious sect, “the Saints”.

They held a vigil and prayed, after denying Elizabeth her life-saving insulin, believing God would heal her or she would be resurrected.

More than three years after Elizabeth’s “profoundly disturbing” death, her father Jason Richard Struhs, 53, and mother Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, received 14-year jail terms at Brisbane Supreme Court.

They were sentenced for manslaughter along with the 12 other group members, including “dangerous” Saints leader Brendan Stevens, 63, who received 13 years.

All 14 were found guilty after a nine-week, judge-only 2024 trial.

The Saints did not subscribe to a particular denomination but the central tenant of their faith was the healing power of God over medical care.

Stevens “vigorously and inflexibly” encouraged the members to put their exclusive trust in God’s healing power based on his interpretation of the Bible.

It led to members of the group harbouring contempt for the “deeply flawed” medical system, describing it as “witchcraft”.

The stage was set for Elizabeth’s tragic fate when she was rushed to hospital “minutes from death” by her father in 2019, with her then-undiagnosed diabetes.

Her mother, a member of the Saints for 15 years, had refused to seek medical assistance for her daughter believing in her church and that God would heal her.

The parents were charged and convicted of failing to provide the necessities of life to their daughter and Elizabeth’s mother was jailed after their 2021 trial.

But Jason Struhs received a suspended sentence, promising to rigorously follow his daughter’s diabetes treatment plan and telling the judge that he had learned a “big lesson”.

But his beliefs soon changed.

Jason Struhs was worn down by church members, his son and wife while she served her sentence, ultimately joining the sect and calling his August 2021 baptism the “greatest day of my life”.

“The influence exerted on Mr Struhs by the rest of you was considerable,” Justice Martin Burns told the church members during their sentencing on Wednesday.

Stevens was a “constant and dominant” presence in the Struhs’ lives, wasting no time to promote the gospel after Jason joined.

“You oversaw what was to become nothing short of a campaign within the church to encourage Jason Struhs to abandon the administration of insulin,” Justice Burns said.

After being released from prison on parole on December 16, 2021, Elizabeth’s mother intensified her efforts to cease her daughter’s medical treatment.

She told her parole officer on two separate occasions that she would still refuse medical treatment for her daughter but wouldn’t stop anyone from interfering.

However, she didn’t reveal that her husband had joined the church or the Saints’ campaign to stop him providing medical care.

On New Year’s Day 2021, Jason Struhs stopped giving Elizabeth her rapid-acting insulin and days later ceased her remaining slow-release doses.

His wife told the 2024 trial she knew there was a possibility God could “take things to the extreme” when the family ceased medical treatment — meaning death — but she thought it would be “interesting”.

“If Elizabeth dies, then the authorities would be involved and so everyone gets to see his power, meaning God,” she said.

On January 6, 2022, Elizabeth’s mother cancelled her parole appointment, feigning illness, but in reality her daughter was lying comatose on a mattress on the living room floor.

When Jason Struhs expressed doubts about the healing powers, Stevens encouraged all members to sit and pray for Elizabeth ensuring her father was never left alone.

Justice Burns said if Stevens had not encouraged Jason Struhs to keep believing, Elizabeth would have been taken to hospital.

“Had that occurred, she would be with us today,” he said.

On January 7, 2022, Elizabeth died.

Justice Burns criticised Jason Struhs for acknowledging Elizabeth’s near-death condition in 2019 and — despite the similarities preceding her death in 2022 — still he did not seek medical treatment.

Jason Struhs did not show “even a shred of remorse” when he spoke to police following Elizabeth’s death, a marked difference to his previous response to her illness.

While Justice Burns found Elizabeth’s mother’s overall criminality ranked higher than her husband’s, due to her deception of authorities, he sentenced both to 14 years.

Jason Struhs received an extra six months for breaching his suspended sentence while his wife got another 373 days for breaching parole.

Justice Burns claimed Stevens was a “dangerous, highly manipulative individual”, slamming the attempt by the Saints’ leader to deny during the trial that he did not influence Jason Struhs to stop medical treatment.

“Your subsequent attempts to distance yourself from the consequences of your conduct are to be deplored,” Justice Burns said.

His 13-year sentence ensured he must serve 80 per cent of his term as a serious violent offender, just like Elizabeth’s parents.

The 12 remaining church group members included Elizabeth’s brother, a now 22-year-old Zachary Alan Struhs, who was jailed for six years.

Justice Burns found each to be responsible for spiritually gambling with the child’s life, influencing the parents by pedalling “the fiction propagated” by Stevens.

He criticised a number of the offenders for attempting to deny their influence during the trial.

“What you did was gamble with the life of a child based on your peculiar interpretation of disparate passages from the Bible and nothing more,” he said.

He criticised every church member for failing to consider the possibility Stevens’ interpretation of the Bible might be wrong.

“Elizabeth suffered a slow and painful death, and you are all, in one way or another, responsible,” he said.

“You have taken the life of a vibrant, happy child who should have gone on to enjoy a full life.”

Group members sentenced included Stevens’ wife and six kids — Therese Maria Stevens, 37, Sebastian James Stevens, 24, Loretta Mary Stevens, 67, Camellia Claire Stevens, 29, Andrea Louise Stevens, 35, Alexander Francis Stevens, 26, and Acacia Naree Stevens, 32.

Others were Samantha Emily Schoenfisch, 26, her husband Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, 34, and Keita Courtney Martin, 24, who lived with the Stevens family.

Their jail terms range from six to nine years.

Justice Burns said it was unlikely any of the members would be rehabilitated during their time in prison.