"Wacko hippie-Mormon" couple imprisoned for not injecting their child with poison

Blazing Reader,

On March 16, 2012, 16-month-old Ezekiel died at Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary.

Four years later, his parents, David and Collet Stephan, were blamed for his death and convicted of failing to provide the necessaries of life. The father was sent to jail, the mother to house arrest.

What "necessaries of life" did they fail to provide? Vaccination. According to the autopsy report, their child died of bacterial meningitis, which was a result of his not getting his shots.

The couple appealed, and the Supreme Court overturned the verdict, declaring them not guilty.

But the Crown brought them back to court. The couple spent the next five years, and millions of dollars, defending themselves, while the media (especially the CBC) misrepresented them as some wacko hippie-Mormon family.

Wacko hippie-Mormons? This is crazy. Hippies and Mormons are polar opposites. Hippies wear tie-dye T-shirts and smoke weed; Mormons wear neckties and abstain from any form of smoking.

The wackos, in the end, appeared to be all on the Crown's side. As the court case unfolded, it became clear that the vaccine in question had been proven ineffective and harmful, while the hospital appeared to be covering up that Ezekiel died of medical malpractice.

The court finally put a halt to the Crown wasting millions of taxpayers' dollars and stayed the proceedings.

The Walking on Air podcast interviewed David and Collet Stephan. It tells their side of the story. The story CBC refused to report. You can watch it on Odysee (because there's no way YouTube would allow it).

John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.