Church sticks by convicted parents

Associated Press/March 28, 2007
By Rose French

Brentwood, Tennessee -- A church is continuing to defend a Georgia couple convicted of beating their 8-year-old son to death, and has set up a legal fund to pay for their appeal.

Remnant Fellowship Church in suburban Nashville, where Joseph and Sonya Smith are members, is soliciting donations for them through a Web site, http://www.thesmithsareinnocent.com.

The suburban Atlanta couple were sentenced Tuesday to life plus 30 years in prison in the beating death of their son. The investigation into the death of Josef Smith included a raid on the church because it supports corporal punishment.

Prosecutors said the boy was locked in a wooden box and confined to a closet for hours at a time before he died in October 2003. Authorities say the boy was chronically abused and died from a blow to the head.

The church's Web site for the couple says the boy suffered from a bacterial infection and that some of the marks on his body were caused by the boy scratching himself to relieve eczema.

"How this simple case could get so out of hand is a mystery," the Web site states. "Something just does not add up."

The boy's death led authorities to investigate the Brentwood-based church and its support of corporal punishment, though police who testified during the couple's trial said they could not find a link between the boy's death and the church's teachings about punishment. Former members of Remnant Fellowship have called it a cult.

Messages seeking comment from church officials were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Defense attorney Manubir Singh Arora represented the Smiths at trial but said he won't be handling their appeal. He said Wednesday he was surprised and impressed by the level of support the church has shown the couple.

"Frankly they've helped out a ton," Arora said. "And while people may or may not agree with whatever their beliefs are ... the fact someone is willing to stick it out with you during one of the worst cases and worst times shows they're decent people."