An Oregon City couple who treated their infant daughter with faith healing rather than take her to a doctor were sentenced today in Clackamas County circuit court to 90 days in jail and three years probation.

Clackamas County Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Jones also required Timothy and Rebecca Wyland to notify the probation department when spiritual healing methods are used.

"Your prayers should complement not compete with proper medical care," Judge Jones said.

Timothy Wyland went into custody immediately and when he is released Rebecca Wyland will start her term. A restitution hearing is set for Aug. 29 to consider whether the Wylands should reimburse the state for court-ordered medical care.

Jones also required the Wylands to:

Comply with all medical recommendations of the doctors treating Alayna;

Notify the probation department of all scheduled medical appointments for Alayna and prove they attended the appointments;

Inform probation officers of any significant injury suffered by any child in their care.

The terms would apply to any child born to the couple during the probation period.

Defense attorneys for the Wylands requested the couple get no jail time out of concern for breaking up the family. But Jones sternly turned down the request blaming the parents for nearly causing their child to go blind in one eye.

A jury convicted the Wylands of first-degree criminal mistreatment earlier this month. The couple belong to the Followers of Christ, an Oregon City church that practices faith healing and rejects doctors. They are the fourth and fifth members of the church to be convicted in the past two years of crimes involving medical neglect of children.

First-degree criminal mistreatment is punishable by up to five years in prison. Because the Wylands have no other criminal convictions, Oregon's sentencing guidelines called for a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.

During early infancy, the couple's daughter, Alayna Wyland, developed a growth called a hemangioma above her left eye that eventually covered and engulfed the eye, leaving her on the verge of blindness. She has since improved under court-ordered care and remains under state supervision, placed with her parents.

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Alayna arrived at the courthouse with her parents, wearing a polka dot dress. The hemangioma was noticeable above her left eye but greatly reduced in size. Alayna held a couple of small stuffed animal toys as she was held by Rebecca before proceedings began.

Doctors who testified at the Wylands' trial said Alayna's condition easily could have been controlled with medication. The hemangioma would have posed no threat to the eye if Alayna, now 18 months old, had been taken to a doctor when the growth a splotchy reddish mark above her left eye started its rapid spread.

The Wylands said they believed the hemangioma, which they called a "strawberry birthmark," would eventually go away. They said they based their conclusion on assurances from other church members and strangers they met at grocery stores and restaurants.

The Wylands followed their church's proscribed method of treatment: prayer, anointing with oil and the laying on of hands.

After Alayna was taken into protective custody a year ago, she received extensive, and expensive, medical attention, and her vision improved.

The girl spent five nights as a patient in Doernbecher Children's Hospital, went through a series of medical tests and was treated by several specialists. The cost of the care was covered by Oregon taxpayers through the Oregon Health Plan.

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