Dale and Shannon Hickman belong to the Followers of Christ Church, an Oregon City congregation that believes in faith-healing over medical care.
The church has a long history in Oregon of child deaths involving treatable illnesses.
The Hickmans are members of the Followers of Christ, an Oregon City congregation that practices faith healing and rejects medical treatment.
They are charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of their newborn son.
Two members of a church that preaches faith-healing pleaded not guilty Monday to manslaughter charges for failing to provide medical care to their infant son, who died shortly after his premature birth.
Dale and Shannon Hickman are the third couple identified as members of the Followers of Christ Church to face criminal charges in the death of a child during the past two years.
An Oregon City couple will face charges of second-degree manslaughter in the faith-healing death of their newborn son, the third such fatality involving the Followers of Christ church in the past two years.
The state medical examiner’s office reported after a series of similar incidents in the 1990s that more than 20 children of church members had died in recent decades from preventable or curable illnesses.