ATTLEBORO -- Members of an Attleboro religious sect commonly beat their children with a paddle "in order that the children's 'will' be 'broken,' " investigators say in court documents that became public yesterday.
Rebecca A. Corneau, the sect member who investigators believe recently had another baby, carried a paddle around her waist that she used for hitting children, according to a sworn affidavit from M. Carol Bridges, an investigator with the state Department of Social Services.
Bridges's affidavit was part of the paperwork the department filed with the Juvenile Court on Friday in its petition to take custody of the baby investigators believe Corneau, 33, had about a month ago.
Later on Friday, Attleboro police detective Arthur J. Brillon filed a copy of Bridges's affidavit with the District Court to support a request for a warrant to search the sect members' home at 196-198 Knight Ave. That affidavit became public yesterday when the police returned the executed search warrant to the court. The return, which normally lists what was seized in a search, indicates only that the baby was not found Friday night.
The court papers offer new detail about why investigators believe Corneau's baby is still alive, who they think may be hiding the baby, and what role a Rehoboth homeowner and a Dighton farmer have played in the investigation.
But the most startling revelation is that investigators believed in 1999 that the sect was in the practice of paddling its children.
Officials had previously said members of the sect were declared unfit as parents and the children placed for adoption because the sect members did not secure proper medical care for the children or send them to school. All the known children of sect members, including Corneau's four daughters, have been placed in state custody and cleared for adoption. That includes a girl who was born in October 2000 while Corneau was confined to a facility for pregnant inmates.
The court documents released yesterday say publicly for the first time that physical abuse was also a factor that led to Corneau and her husband, David P. Corneau, 34, losing parental rights to at least one of their girls.
"The child, age 26 months at the time of her removal from her parents' care, was spanked or paddled by her parents for soiling her diaper," Bridges's affidavit says. "When the child was placed in foster care she had bruising on her buttocks consistent with paddling. Her older sisters also had thickened skin on their buttocks consistent with paddling."
The affidavit also says, "This practice was common in the religious group in which the Corneaus were members. The practice of severely paddling the children was believed to be necessary in order . . . that the children's 'will' be 'broken.' "
The revelations became public one day after the Corneaus' lawyer, J.W. Carney, stood in front of the same courthouse and blasted the state and the court for prying into the Corneaus' family life.
"There is absolutely no evidence that David and Rebecca Corneau have ever abused any of their children," Carney said. "The court is on a witch-hunt. It's completely inappropriate to conduct a hearing like this."
David Corneau last night declined to speak to a reporter at his home. Carney and members of the sect could not be reached for comment last night.
The affidavit outlines the steps investigators took on Jan. 2 to determine whether Rebecca Corneau recently had a baby.
Bridges and other investigators, including Thomas Carroll, a child-abuse investigator with the Bristol County District Attorney's office, went to the Knight Avenue house that morning, where David Corneau answered the door but declined to speak with the investigators.
Bridges then talked to a neighbor on Knight Avenue, who told them that, about a month earlier, Rebecca Corneau appeared to be in labor one day as sect members led her into a vehicle. Corneau was breathing heavily and holding her belly, the neighbor said.
The investigators then went to a Dighton farm owned by Thomas Horton and his wife, who is not identified in the affidavit.
The Hortons told the investigators that they housed the sect's farm animals in exchange for free masonry work by sect members who are professional masons. The Hortons said recently they had seen a new person with sect members who came to the farm to care for the animals. They identified the man as John Hunter, of Brook Street, Rehoboth.
Bridges went to Hunter's house, but found no one home. Looking through windows next to the front door, she noticed an infant swing in the house. Town records indicate that Hunter had three teenaged children living in the home, but no young children or infants.
Bridges returned at 6:30 p.m., and Hunter answered the door. For the most part, Hunter declined to answer questions about whether any babies were living at the house.
Bridges also asked whether Mark or Trinette Daneau were at the house. Trinette Daneau is Rebecca Corneau's sister. The Daneaus are believed to be members of the sect, though the police have not seen them at the Knight Avenue house in Attleboro recently.