Mike Pearl - another death by his teaching

Controversial book part of adopted girl's murder investigation

by ERIC WILKINSON / KING 5 News

Posted on September 30, 2011 at 5:50 PM

SEDRO WOOLLEY, Wash. -- Behind a locked gate and
down a long, winding driveway, far from the eyes of the outside world,
prosecutors say a girl who came to Sedro-Woolley from Ethiopia to find
loving parents was met with horrible abuse.

Hana Williams, 13, never adapted to life with her strict, adoptive parents.

Court documents say she was considered "rebellious" and was forced to
sleep in a dark locked closet, eat table scraps, bathe outside with a
hose and was routinely beaten with a plastic rod. Her parents, Larry and
Carri Williams, allegedly witheld food for days at a time. At the time
of her death last May, the teen weighed just 78 pounds.

"It's the worst case I've ever investigated," said Dr. Francis Chalmers, a pediatrician who examined the case for prosecutors.

The night she died, Hana was found by her siblings naked, outside, face down in a mud puddle. It was 42 degrees.

"I think she was severely abused and ultimately tortured," said Dr. Chalmers.

Many in the small Skagit County city are wondering how anyone could be so cruel to a child.

Little is known about the Williams family, except that they were
strict homeschooling Christians who rarely left their five-acre
property.

But they got at least part of their parenting advice from a
controversial book entitled "To Train Up A Child." It was written by a
Tennessee preacher who advocates the infliction of pain and witholding
of food as forms of punishment. An adopted California girl was beaten to
death by her parents who read the same book. DSHS officials said they
plan to take a closer look at it.

"From what I am aware of, I would describe it as encouraging abuse," said DSHS Area Administrator Patty Turner.

Read more at King5.com

Related:

Related:
Skagit County couple charged with death of adopted childEthiopian community wants answers in girl's deathAdopted girl's death prompts neglect investigation in Sedro Woolley

HT: Jessica

See all my posts on Mike and Debi Pearl.

If you know anyone who follows this rigid, merciless teaching, please implore them to seek counsel.

All the children who have died at the hands of Pearl devotees were adopted into families considered model in their communities.

While some parents claim the Pearl techniques work well for them, what obviously is a problem is adopting someone into the family who poses greater challenges, for which the parents' only resources are beatings and abuse.



The MSM are all too happy to take the truth of this story and run with it, painting all evangelicals as child abusers. This is not the case, and all the more reason why we must stop tolerating the spread of the Pearls' teaching.