August 6, 2004 — A church pastor and deacon were convicted yesterday of misdemeanors in connection with the slashing and burning of a wheelchair-bound woman in a bizarre healing ritual.
The Rev. Junior Mitchell was convicted of reckless endangerment and assault and Deacon Curtis Babb was convicted of reckless endangerment in a trial at Brooklyn Criminal Court.
The two performed a bizarre ritual on the feet of Charmaine Babb, the deacon’s estranged wife, cutting and then pouring hot wax on them.
She later had one lower leg amputated.
Defense lawyers noted she came to the church hoping to be healed from a stroke.
They insisted that vascular problems in the legs prompted the amputation.