Karen Robidoux was raised as a Christian in a good household by loving, middle-class American parents.

Karen Robidoux believed in the church, in God, and in the teachings and commandments of the Bible.

Karen Robidoux grew up, married, and gave birth to a son.

But the seeds of a Dionysian collapse were sewn early in this Apollonian fairy-tale life.

She believed. Simple as that. She made the required leap of faith and believed in something greater than herself; greater than mankind; greater than the life of her son, and she believed it because she believed it. No physical proof was necessary. God said it, she believed it, and that absolutely settled it.

She and her husband Jacques found a small north-east religious sect called, "The Body." Little did they know nor could they possibly see the foreshadowing in that name.

One day, Jacques and Karen were approached by a high ranking member of The Body. This member told them of a vision he had had about Jacques and Karen's baby boy.

Jacques and Karen then proceeded to systematicly deny their infant son food other than breast milk. The child starved, malnutrition following its ugly course.

The authorities found the body--not The Body--in a dumpster at a State Park.

Yesterday, using the battered wife's defense, Karen Robidoux was found not guilty of the murder of her infant son. She was convicted of the lesser charge of assault and battery and released. The charge carried a two-and-a-half year prison sentence. Karen Robidoux has already served close to three years in custody.

For listening to her husband and a religious figure-head instead of her motherly instincts, Karen Robidoux is today a free woman. She has paid her debt to society for the murder of her infant son (who was almost a year old at the time of his death, and would be close to four now . . .in pre-school, learning the alphabet, riding his bike and wondering when he could take off the training wheels . . .)and Karen is a free woman.

The prosecution failed to call another cult member to the stand to testify on behalf of the state after the man refused to testify, citing, "It would go against my religious beliefs to answer questions . . ." The judge in the case issued an arrest warrant after the cult member failed to appear in court and he was arrested at a gas station soon after. He was in custody, yet the prosecution failed to put him on the stand, instead entering his past statements into evidence.

That man is free today, also.

In this country, we practice freedom of religion. That baby boy deserved more.

He deserved freedom FROM religion.

And to Karen Robidoux, I say this: You were abused. You were troubled. You were afraid to deny The Body anything, so great was your fear of leaving your God.

My fondest wish would be that your beliefs are true, so that you may rot in whatever Hell awaits.

Your son is dead.

Live with it.

And to the prosecution who refused to step over the religious freedom clauses and force that sonofabitch to testify, (even if it only meant that you could lock him up on contempt charges) I say that you are a coward. How could it have hurt your case to make a statement that when the lives of our children are at stake, their rights supercede yours? Even had the man sat there mute, it could only have helped your case.

But then again, District Attorneys are elected in most places, aren't they?

Goodbye, baby boy Robidoux. I'm sorry we, as a country, allowed this to happen to you.

Joseph Haines, signing off from The Edge of the Abyss.