Missing children reveals insular sect in Attleboro
Boston Globe, February 7, 2000
By Erica Noonan
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) It began more than 20 years ago as a bible study
group, formed by a group of community-oriented people who were ''great role
models.''
But philosophical differences caused a rift, and one small faction went on
its own to become a tiny self-sufficient church unwilling to recognize laws
made or enforced by a secular society.
The group of several extended families lived together in a duplex here,
following Old Testament scripture and advocating faith healing over modern
medicine, viewing themselves as a bastion of biblical faith in an evil
world.
The commune might have gone unnoticed indefinitely if two disaffected group
members had not gone to authorities late last year with a horrific story:
two baby boys born to members of the group were dead and buried in the
wilderness of Maine's Baxter State Park.
Since then, investigators have searched areas of Attleboro, Rhode Island and
Maine looking for 10-month-old Samuel Robidoux and his infant cousin,
Jeremiah Corneau.
They haven't found the boys. But investigators did uncover journals authored
by an unidentified group member that claim Jeremiah was stillborn and that
Samuel was denied food for weeks before dying in the early spring.
The journal claimed group members viewed Samuel's death as the will of God,
and that the sight of the hungry and crying child was used by Satan to test
the faith of his 24-year-old mother, Karen Robidoux.
One journal entry said Karen Robidoux was instructed to drink only almond
milk and nurse Samuel. Neither Karen nor Samuel was to eat any food. The
diary didn't say who issued the edict.
A March 7, 1999 entry read, ''Samuel started only nursing as commanded by
God. As the day grew on, Samuel was obviously not being filled. He was
thirsty and hungry.'' By March 14, ''Satan used the physical sight of Samuel
to really get to her (Karen). He was obviously losing much weight and
becoming much weaker,'' the journal said.
On the other hand, Jeremiah was born in August, but ''never had a breath of
life'' because ''the Lord never give it to him,'' his 32-year-old father,
David Corneau, told police.
Corneau said Jesus told him to bury the child but Corneau has refused to say
where. Karen Robidoux also admitted to investigators her son died, but
wouldn't say where he was buried.
Local pastor Brian Weeks, who in the 1970s co-founded a church with Roland
Robidoux, Samuel's grandfather, said he was disturbed at the accusations
against his former friend.
''They really believe God is in charge, and that God is speaking to them,''
said Weeks, who now serves as a pastor at the Jericho Christian Fellowship
in Middleboro.
Weeks said he and Robidoux broke from a California branch of the
fundamentalist group, Worldwide Church of God, and established their own
small churches in Mansfield and Mendon, R.I.
Back then, Weeks said, Roland Robidoux and his wife, Georgette, were
community-oriented and ''great role models'' and parents to Jacques and
their other children.
A few years later, Weeks left the group over philosophical differences and
joined another congregation.
It was in the decades following, Weeks said, that the Robidouxes joined with
a few other families and cut themselves off from society, living frugally
off money earned through masonry work, carpentry and a chimney sweep
business.
The church cut themselves off entirely from outside society, he said. Some
sect members intermarried, including Jacques, who wed Karen, the daughter of
another group member.
The group traveled together to a farmhouse near Pawtucket, R.I., and on
lengthy camping trips to Baxter State Park.
It was during one of these outings to the park's Freezeout Trail last
September when police now believe the bodies of Samuel and Jeremiah were
taken to Maine and buried.
Samuel's 26-year-old father, Jacques, has sat in jail for nearly three
months for refusing to discuss the whereabouts of his son. In a court
appearance in January, Robidoux again refused to answer questions, and told
the judge a court had no jurisdiction over the child.
The dozen-or-so remaining church members also have refused to talk about the
missing baby boys, even after state Department of Social Services workers
removed 13 other children from the Knight Avenue home where the group lives
and worships.
A local cult expert speculated the loss of the children, as well as the
resulting legal maelstrom, may seem like a giant test of faith to the
devoutly religious congregation.
''They're probably trying to figure out what God is trying to tell them,''
said Bob Pardon, head of the New England Institute of Religious Research.
''They view themselves as people of God experiencing persecution.''
In late January, the state appointed Pardon a guardian of the sect's
children.
So far, he said, members have chosen not to visit their children living in
secular foster homes.
''It's a very tough situation,'' Pardon said. ''We're trying to make contact
with the group.''
The lack of information also has temporarily halted the search for the
children's bodies.
''It's a matter of pinpointing the area better than we can,'' said Bristol
County Assistant District Attorney Gerald FitzGerald. ''The area in question
is huge.''
FitzGerald said Jacques Robidoux's insistence he answers to God, not man, is
no defense.
''I respect anyone's religion,'' he said. ''But I cannot imagine how it is
not in the interest of society in general to know if a child is alive or
dead, and what happened.''
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