The following are some local news articles regarding a criminal suit brought about by an attempted exorcism by a student minister at a church in Bloomington, IN. The church referred is the one that used to be Bro. Tiller's, which was formerly UPC back in the day.
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Man accused of battery at 'exorcism'
By FAITH HANNAH
fhannah@heraldt.com
July 31, 2007
BLOOMINGTON — Monroe County police are seeking a Paoli man who they say left a teenage boy’s face black and blue in an attempt to cast out demons.
Monroe County Circuit Court Judge David Welch issued an arrest warrant on Monday for Edward “Eddie” Uyesugi II, 22, a former student minister at Cherry Hill Church in Bloomington.
According to Times-Mail archives, Uyesugi graduated from Paoli High School in 2003, and was valedictorian of the class. He participated in many extra-curricular activities, including varsity basketball and tennis.
Uyesugi is being sought on preliminary charges of felony confinement and misdemeanor battery with bodily injury. He had not been arrested as of 8:45 a.m. today.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Department Detective Sgt. Brad Swain gave the following account of the incident, based on police interviews with several witnesses, Uyesugi and the pastor of the church.
On May 27, a Bloomington woman brought her 14-year-old autistic son, who lives in a group home, to her home for a visit. The woman said Uyesugi had convinced her he could help heal the teen, who he said was possessed with demons. Uyesugi was a minister-in-training at Cherry Hill, the church the family attended. In an interview with police, the mother described the church as a “healing ministry.” She said she assumed the church pastor had knowledge of Uyesugi’s plan and had consented to it.
The woman said that when Uyesugi came to her home, he began praying loudly and scared the boy. The teen tried to run out of the room, but Uyesugi grabbed him. He began to struggle with the boy, who attempted to get away. According to the police reports, Uyesugi placed the boy on the floor and said, “You come out, you filthy demon!” The reports said he struck the teen several times on the chest with his open hand and his fist.
Police reports said the forceful praying carried on for almost two hours before the mother asked Uyesugi to stop. Later, the mother said she heard Uyesugi say, “They’re still here! The demons are still in you!” She told Uyesugi there were no demons in her son. When Uyesugi persisted, the boy ran away and Uyesugi grabbed him again.
Later, police said, Uyesugi put his hands down the boy’s throat, saying that there were demons in there, and causing the boy to vomit. Uyesugi instructed the boy’s brother to help restrain the boy and also to stick his fingers down his brother’s throat. His mother told Uyesugi she was going to call the church, but he yelled for her not to do so. Instead, Uyesugi told the mother to pray over the boy as he and the boy’s brother held him. According to police reports, Uyesugi continued to strike the boy in the face and told the boy’s brother to strike him, too. The “exorcism” continued until about midnight, police reports indicate.
Uyesugi was still at the home the next morning, according to the reports. The mother showed Uyesugi what he had done to her son’s face and advised him to call their pastor and tell him what happened, but he did not. Uyesugi left, apologizing to the mother and telling her that he had never cast out demons before.
The mother told police her son’s face was twice its normal size after the incident. She kept him home for several days before taking him back to the group home, fearful that what had happened would interfere with a custody case that was in progress. She did not tell the home’s staff what had happened to the boy. But the boy’s case manager notified police on June 14 that a child had been injured during a home visit.
Although the witnesses, the boy and his mother had similar stories, Uyesugi denied that he initiated the exorcism, saying the boy’s mother had asked him to pray over the boy. He told Swain that he restrained the boy to keep him from hurting his mother or himself. He said reports of the injuries to the boy’s face were an exaggeration.
Swain said the church pastor called the events described by witnesses “bizarre” and “ridiculous” during an interview. The pastor told police he had asked Uyesugi to leave the church’s parsonage, where he was residing, and told him he could no longer be a student at the church’s theology school. According to the police reports, the pastor said the school teaches how to cast out demons, but students would be able to do the practice only after graduation from the 2 1/2-year program. But the pastor told Swain he had never heard of the method reportedly used by Uyesugi, and that he would not pray for demons to be cast out of someone who is autistic. A woman who answered the telephone at the church Monday evening said the church would not comment on the incident.
The family has not attended the church since the incident. As of now, the church is not involved in the case, police said.
http://www.tmnews.com/stories/2007/0....nw-895792.tms
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