God Bless the Child (Season 2, Episode 5)
Premise: A little girl dies of a treatable infection because her parents’ church forbids doctors, and prosecutors must decide whether faith is a defense.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 2, Episode 5
- Detectives
- Sgt. Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Kaiulani Lee as Nancy Driscoll, Byron Jennings as Ted Driscoll, Henderson Forsythe as defense attorney Lucius Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg as Dinah Driscoll (uncredited)
- Ripped from the headlines
- Reportedly based on the 1989 death of Alex Dale Morris, a four-year-old whose church relied on prayer instead of medical care.
- Director
- E. W. Swackhamer
- Writers
- David Black & Robert Stuart Nathan
Summary
The Investigation
“God Bless the Child” begins when a housekeeper runs into the street begging police to help five-year-old Dinah Driscoll, who is struggling to breathe. At the hospital, Dinah’s mother, Nancy, refuses to let doctors operate because her church, the Church of All Saints, forbids medicine. Dinah dies of a strep infection that antibiotics could easily have cured. Her father, Ted, had been away on business for part of her illness.
The detectives clash over how to see the parents. Logan calls them fanatics, while Cerreta, a father of five, insists they loved their daughter. A church healer describes treating Dinah with prayer and cold baths. In New Jersey, the detectives learn the Driscolls lost a two-year-old son years earlier and meet Ted’s sister, who left the church and begged Nancy to call a doctor. Witnesses describe Nancy arguing at home and drinking in a coffee shop. Then an emergency-call recording reveals that Ted dialed 911 the night before Dinah died and hung up.
The Trial
New York law allows spiritual healing as a defense to endangering a child, so Stone charges both parents with second-degree manslaughter as well, arguing they recklessly caused Dinah’s death. The defense argues the parents sincerely believed prayer would heal her. The Driscolls refuse a plea that would require them never to use spiritual healing on a child again. Stone survives a mistrial motion over his questioning of the church healer, but the judge bars testimony that Dinah herself asked for a doctor.
Nancy finally testifies that Ted wanted to call for help and that she stopped him.
Spoiler, the ending: The judge’s instructions blur the line between the two charges, but the jury acquits both parents of endangering and convicts both of second-degree manslaughter. Stone expects they will serve no jail time and hopes the verdict will make another parent call a doctor.
Why it stands out
- It examines a real New York law that let religious healing excuse child endangerment.
- The jury reaches a split verdict that tracks the law despite confusing instructions.
- Cerreta’s role as a father shapes how he sees the parents.