Jury finds Beagleys guilty in faith-healing case

Father and mother of teen who died could face 10 years in prison

By Matthew Graham

The Oregon City News, Jan 30, 2010, Updated Feb 11, 2010 (10 Reader comments)

Oregon City's Jeff Beagley left the Clackamas County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon with family members after being convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the 2008 death of his 16-year-old son.

L.E. Baskow / Pamplin Media Group

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Jeffrey and Marci Beagley were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide last week in the June 2008 death of their 16-year-old son Neil.

After a two-week trial in Clackamas County Circuit Court, and two days of deliberations, jurors came to a 10-2 decision on charges for both parents.

The Beagleys could face up to 10 years in prison, though defense attorney Wayne Mackeson said the presumptive sentence is 16 to 18 months.

The Beagleys will be sentenced on Feb. 18.

Bob Zegar, one of the jurors who voted for the guilty verdict, said it was a “real tough decision. They didn't want their child to die, so nobody wins in this situation, but hopefully it won’t happen again.”

He said everyone on the jury thought the Beagleys were “loving” people, “it’s just that one decision,” he said.

Not a flight risk

Neil Beagley died June 17, 2008, from a treatable blockage in his urinary tract. The Beagleys are members of the Followers of Christ Church, which relies on faith healing instead of turning to doctors for medical help.

Jeff and Marci Beagley also are the grandparents of 15-month-old Ava Worthington, whose death from a treatable blood infection was the center of a similar trial during the summer. In that case Ava’s mother, Raylene Worthington, was acquitted and her father, Carl Brent Worthington, was found guilty only of a lesser charge. He spent two months in jail.

Prosecuting attorney Greg Horner asked that the parents be taken into custody immediately.

“The state’s position is that they are now guilty, they no longer have the presumption of innocence, the state will be asking for jail time, exactly how much we’re not sure, but we’d ask that they be taken into custody at this time,” Horner told Circuit Judge Steven L. Maurer.

Maurer, however, declined, saying the Beagleys “have been diligent in their attendance in court, I do not believe they represent a flight risk, they have significant ties to the community which would make the risk of flight or other conduct on their part (to delay sentencing) ... very unlikely.”