ATTLEBORO, Mass. / 5:15 p.m. -- A grand jury investigation into what
happened to a baby born to a member of an Attleboro religious sect has
ended with no criminal charges.
Investigators determined Rebecca A. Corneau’'s pregnancy ended in a
stillbirth last November at the Rehoboth home of family friends,
according to a memo released today by the Bristol County District
Attorney'’s Office.
That conclusion was based on testimony to the grand jury by a medical
expert and eyewitnesses to the stillbirth, including David P. Corneau,
Rebecca’'s husband, according to the memo.
The end of the investigation follows last month’'s release of the
Corneaus after more than four months in jail for refusing to cooperate
with authorities investigating the pregnancy’'s outcome.
Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nasif had jailed the couple after ruling
a live baby had been born to the Corneaus, who had been deemed unfit
parents and had four other children taken from them.
The Corneaus eventually told Nasif the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage,
but the judge told them he could not believe them without them
disclosing what they did with the remains.
Nasif released the couple last month, saying that keeping them in jail
would not persuade them to cooperate. He also noted the grand jury
investigation.
Two children from the sect -- including the Corneaus’' son, Jeremiah --
–died in 1999. In June, sect elder Jacques D. Robidioux was convicted of
murder in the starvation death of one of those babies, his son, Samuel
E. Robidoux.
-- With reports from Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds
