A Paradise couple accused of beating their 7-year-old adopted daughter to death will be in court this morning for a scheduled preliminary hearing.
Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz face one count of murder, one count of torture and one count of child abuse. The torture count alleges that the parents beat their 11-year-old adopted daughter so severely she ended up in the hospital with kidney failure. The child abuse charge is for bruising authorities reportedly found on the couple's 10-year-old biological son.
The Schatzes are parents to six biological children and three they adopted from Liberia about three years ago. Seven-year-old adopted daughter Lydia died of blunt force trauma in February. According to authorities, she was beaten for several hours with a quarter-inch plumbing supply line as her parents took turns holding her down and using the instrument. The blows reportedly cause Rhabdomyolysis, which is a breakdown of muscle tissue which fatally damaged her vital organs. The 11-year-old was allegedly beaten in a similar manner the previous night.
According to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, the parents appeared to be following the methods of Michael and Debi Pearl, founders of a controversial fundamentalist religious group, No Greater Joy Ministries.
They also wrote a controversial parenting book "To Train Up a Child." In their literature, the Pearls encourage parents to use a quarter-inch plumbing supply line (or other items like rulers, paddles or tree branches) as a "rod" to "train up" their children. Though they tell parents not to injure their children, they also encourage constant "switching" or "licks" for not only disobedience but also for things like spilling nuts or being foolish. Additional "licks" are recommended when the child cries out.
According to local authorities, Lydia's "biblical chastisement" leading to her death may have been for mispronouncing a word during a home-school reading lesson. The Schatzes entered not guilty pleas to all charges in March. Kevin Schatz will be represented by Defense Attorney Michael Harvey while Elizabeth Schatz will be represented by Defense Attorney Kevin Sears.
The preliminary hearing allows the judge to hear evidence against the defendants from the prosecutors and witnesses as well as arguments and cross examination from the defense attorneys. The judge then determines if the case will proceed to trial. According to Ramsey, however, it appears likely that the preliminary hearing will be waived today and the case will proceed.
Both defendants are being held in the Butte County Jail on bail of $2 million each. Both face two life terms in state prison if convicted.
