Accused exorcist turns himself in today
By Marcela Creps
mcreps@heraldt.com
August 1, 2007
BLOOMINGTON — Eddie Uyesugi II turned himself in to Monroe County Police this afternoon, Sheriff’s Detective Brad Swain said.
Uyesugi is accused of beating a 14-year-old autistic boy during a hours-long ritual exorcism in May.
The pastors for Cherry Hill Ministries in Bloomington released a statement this morning denouncing Uyesugi’s behavior in his attempt to “cast demons” out of the boy during a ritual session conducted at the request of the boy’s mother.
“We emphatically denounce the method, manner and mentality of this unauthorized and unsupervised exorcism attempted by this young man,” said Kim Norris, pastor of Cherry Hill in a prepared statement.
In the press release, sent by the church’s attorney, the church emphasizes that Norris was the one who contacted Child Protective Services about the incident. It also states that the Uyesugi was immediately expelled from the Cherry Hill School of Theology and was asked to resign membership in the church.
Norris further stated that the church believes in “deliverance through prayer” as do many Christian churches. He explained that it is done through laying on of hands with no harmful physical contact.
Uyesugi is accused of battering the teen in the process of an exorcism. Police have said that although Uyesugi was a student at Cherry Hill, he performed the acts without the knowledge or direction of the church.
Marcela Creps is a reporter with the Herald-Times of Bloomington, a sister newspaper to the Times-Mail
http://www.tmnews.com/stories/2007/0....nw-004699.tms