Tag: Ariel Ben Sherman and Jacqueline Crank

The late Ariel Ben Sherman was charged in a teen girl’s faith healing death, but he sought medical treatment for his own conditions.

Even after his death legal arguments in the case continue: still up before the appellate court to decide is whether the state’s spiritual exemption law that allows parents to forego medical treatment in favor of faith healing is in violation of the U.S. Constitution and its equal protection guarantees.

A decade-long court dispute over a child neglect case that spawned a legal battle over faith healing, ended Tuesday with two guilty convictions for the girls’ mother and friend.

Sherman and Crank say they will appeal the conviction, and the case is expected to test Tennessee state laws that allow parents to make medical decisions based on their faith.

More than six years after 15-year-old Jessica Crank died from cancer after failed attempts at faith healing, her mother Jacqueline is testifying about making that choice as a matter of religious conviction.

Crank now faces a misdemeanor neglect charge in the death of her daughter, after years of legal wrangling that has seen the charges move up and down the appeals process but never to trial.