Parents lose custody of kids after mom attempted exorcism | NJ.com

I have been having a hard time deciding whether to include this story or not.  It is quite evident that mental illness and drug/alcohol abuse are the main factors but yet there are obvious religious undertones to what transpired; they had to come from some where.

A state appellate court has affirmed a decision to take away custody of two children from a Middlesex County couple after the mother allegedly requested a priest perform an exorcism on them when they were two years old and the father was in and out of jail and drug treatment.

On Thursday, the court upheld a decision from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency to terminate the parents' custody of the two children, a boy and a girl, now ages 7 and 6.

DCPP initially had contact with the family beginning in 2008 arising out of domestic disturbances, including the mother's alcohol use, father's conviction for aggravated assault and burglary, and the family's lack of housing, the decision says. The parents are not named in the court documents to protect the identity of the children.
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The children were eventually removed from their parents in June 2011, after the mother took them to church and asked a priest to perform an exorcism on them, according to the decision.

The mother was homeless and said she was hearing two voices – a good one and a bad one – and had to resist the urge to give her children to the devil, court documents say. The children had also not eaten in three days, according to the documents.

Parents lose custody of kids after mom attempted exorcism | NJ.com