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United States: In a follow up to the story of a fundie loon who killed an eight-year-old autistic boy during an attempted exorcism, the man in question has been sentenced to 2½ years in jail.
Prosecutors say Ray Hemphill lay on Terrance Cottrell Jr.'s chest for at least an hour while trying to releasedemonsfrom him, before the boy died August 22, 2003.
It was your unreasonable and reckless conduct that caused this child to die,Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean DiMotto told Hemphill.
Last month, a jury found Hemphill, 46, guilty of physical abuse of a child recklessly causing great bodily harm.
Hemphill's attorney had argued his client was trying to help the boy, and that Cottrell died after an overdose of medication.
The medical examiner ruled the boy died of suffocation.
Terrance died at the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith in Milwaukee, where Hemphill was a church elder and where the boy and his mother were members.
The judge also sentenced Hemphill to 7½ years of extended supervision and ordered him to pay about $1,200 in restitution. He had faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Churchman jailed for exorcism death - CNN (US), 17th August 2004.
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