Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 13:50:48 -0800
From: David Rice
Subject: "blessed by god"

On Dateline tonight, a story was aired of two young adults in Utah who believed their 18-month old child was "blessed by God" and the father, Christopher Fink, a "prophet". They entreated their child as "holy" by feeding it only raw fruits and vegetables and neglecting it to the point that pediatricians later diagnosed the tot to be chronically malnutritioned and developmentally disabled. The child could not walk, was "skin & bones" with no baby fat looking skeletal. The parents claimed their child had to "remain pure" and the mother was quoted as having said that it would be God's will if their child died.

Concerned family members contacted a child-help organization, "Helping Hands", which led to the child being placed into a Salt Lake Hospital for medical care. Doctors claimed the child was "on the brink of death." Social service officials allowed the parents to visit their child as long as a nurse was present. According to the report, the father, Christopher Fink, on the premise of walking the child around the lobby, caught the nurse off-guard and fled the hospital with their child and took refuge in a hidden mountain location. Hunters later discovered the pair and informed law enforcement officials who arrested the pair. Their child is now in a foster home and the parents are awaiting trial on federal kidnapping charges. The father, Christopher Fink, makes the case that (1) they cannot be charged with kidnapping their own child, and (2) their child's condition was the result of a religious practice.

Fink had once created a website on Geocities.com explaining his side of the story, but the webpage is now closed.