The Body

 

The Body began as a Bible study group in the home of Roland Robidoux, a former member of the Worldwide Church of God.  Never theologically orthodox in it's beliefs, the group took a turn for the worse when they were joined by Roger Daneau, who had recently been involved in a fringe Pentecostal group, and became enamored with 'Spirit-filled' author Carol Bilizet's book Home in Zion, which taught faith healing and rejection of all medical treatment.

Faith healing and prophecy became hallmarks of the group, as well as an isolationist vision that led them to increasingly withdraw from society to avoid the evil influence of the world.  Following the 'leading of the Lord' was of utmost importance to members of The Body.  Based on these 'leadings', the group believed that God forbade the wearing of eyeglasses, cosmetics, and shorts.  Later, the group destroyed all their photo albums due to a revelation that led them to believe that these encouraged vanity.

 

The Body first came to the attention of the police in June 1998, when Roland claimed that God was leading them to Maine for a 'feast'.  The families climbed into their cars and set out in the middle of the night with no money or other provisions.  When the police found the group, they were stranded on the side of the road praying for God to refill their empty gas tanks.  Most of them had not eaten for several days, and the children were ill with hunger.  With the assistance of the police and some relatives, they were able to return home.

 

After this experience, The Body became even more isolated, cutting off ties with all 'nonbelievers'.

 

In March 1999, Robidoux's daughter Michelle claimed to have received a word from the Lord regarding her sister-in-law Karen.  Michelle accused Karen of being proud and vain, and said that, in order to humble her, God had declared that Karen must stop feeding her ten-month-old son solid food and instead resume breastfeeding him only.  Karen tried to follow this directive, but lost her breastmilk supply due to another pregnancy.  Thus began a horrible drawn-out process over the course of several months in which Karen's son Samuel gradually starved to death.

 

Karen's husband Jacques (the son of Roland Robidoux) kept a journal of the events during this month and recorded that Karen became distraught very early on with the continual crying of their son Samuel from hunger, and she wanted to feed him.  Jacques, however, refused, telling Karen that they must rely on God to provide breastmilk for the toddler.  Karen continued trying to breastfeed the child, but to no avail.  Samuel soon became too weak to even roll over.  Jacques took over bathing him because Karen could no longer bear to look at his emaciated body.

 

After 51 days of starvation, Samuel died, and the group buried him.  Samuel had been born at home and (due to the group's isolationist views) the birth was never registered, so there was no official record of Samuel ever having existed.  Because of The Body's rejection of photos as 'vanity', there was not even a photograph of the child.  Most likely, no one outside of the group would have ever noticed his death if it had not been for a former member of The Body, who stumbled across Jacques's journal by chance while on a brief visit to the home.  He turned the journal over to police, who soon began an investigation of the group.

 

Jacques Robidoux was tried for the murder of his son and sentenced to life in prison.  At Karen's trial, the jury concluded that she had been brainwashed and intimidated by the cult group and her husband.  As a result, she was convicted only of assault.  Michelle, the prophetess whose 'word from the Lord' had set the event in motion, pleaded guilty as an accessory to murder.

 

Karen Robidoux subsequently left the cult and lived for a while in a recovery center for former cult members.  In 2004, she spoke to The Boston Herald about her experiences in the cult and the death of her son.  When asked whether more children in the cult might be in danger of dying as her son did, Karen responded, "Absolutely.  If not worse."  She explained that nothing has changed much for the members of The Body.  "There's been no repentance, and they're just going to continue. The group will just continue in their cycle."

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