Religious sect member claims she had miscarriage

ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- A member of a religious sect that rejects modern medicine had a miscarriage in November and is not hiding the baby from authorities, her lawyer told a judge Tuesday.

Rebecca and David Corneau had previously refused to say whether a baby even exists. Attorney J.W. Carney said Rebecca Corneau now would be willing to testify about the miscarriage.

"Mrs. Corneau realized she did not feel the baby moving," Carney told Judge Kenneth Nasif at a contempt hearing. "Shortly thereafter she expelled a dead and decomposed fetus.

"There is no live baby Corneau," he said.

The Corneaus appeared in Attleboro Juvenile Court a day after losing an appeal of a court order that they be jailed if they didn't hand over their newborn. The state's highest court rejected the appeal Monday.

Attorneys for the state Department of Social Services made no immediate response to the claim of a miscarriage, and the judge closed the courtroom to the public and press for a protection hearing, at which Rebecca Corneau was expected to speak.

The Corneaus repeatedly have cited their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

After Carney's statement to the court, Judge Kenneth Nasif ordered the couple held for two weeks pending a new hearing, and they were briefly handcuffed. But Carney said Rebecca Corneau was prepared to testify immediately and a hearing was scheduled for later in the day.

Members of 'The Body'

The Corneaus belong to a religious sect called "The Body," which rejects modern medicine and advocates faith healing. State child welfare officials believe there is a child, and it may be harmed because of the Corneaus' religious practices. The state has already taken custody of four of the couple's children.

The couple lost an appeal before the Supreme Judicial Court on Monday, and the case went back to Nasif, who held the couple in contempt last month and ordered them to jail, but delayed locking them up pending appeals.

Another child of the Corneaus died during a home birth in 1999 and was buried secretly in a state park in Maine, alongside an infant cousin who prosecutors say was starved to death by sect members.

The Corneaus received immunity in the death of the other child, and David Corneau led authorities to the children's bodies.