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Toddler killed during exorcism at San Jose Church

May 12, 2022

Pastor Rene Huezo

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A ceremony described as an exorcism that was performed on a three-year-old girl at a San Jose church last fall allegedly killed the child, and the victim’s mother has been arrested over the death. [Mercury News]

In September, faith leaders at Iglesia Apostoles y Profetas performed a ceremony on Arely Naomi Proctor to “liberate her of her evil spirits.” They claim the child’s death was the will of God, not the consequence of an exorcism.

Proctor died by asphyxiation. The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide.

Claudia Hernandez, the mother of the victim, allegedly withheld food from her daughter and squeezed her neck during the exorcism. Hernandez waited an hour or two after her girl’s death to call 911, according to court documents.

Authorities arrested Hernandez and charged her with assault on a child resulting in death.

Rene Huezo, the pastor of Apostoles y Profetas and grandfather of the victim, performed the exorcism on his granddaughter. Huezo said he feels a lot of pain over the death of his grandchild, but the death was the will of God.

“If you read the Bible, you’ll see that Jesus casts away demons and made sick people healthy again,” Huezo said. “It’s not when I want to do it, it’s when God, in his will, wants to heal the person. The preacher is like an instrument of God; what we do is what God says.”

Both Huezo and the victim’s uncle allegedly held the girl down during the ceremony. Neither has been charged over the incident.

Apostoles y Profetas is a small Pentecostal church that serves about 25 members of the Salvadoran and Mexican communities in San Jose. The church was also attended by at least one of the suspects in the kidnapping of an infant boy in San Jose last month.


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The most recent development in this grotesque case of child torture is the good news that little Arely Naomi Proctor’s uncle and grandfather have also been charged with felony abuse, in addition to the original felony murder charges against her mother. I hope these rotten, pathetic excuses for devout believers who claim they speak for God spend the next several decades in prison. Prison is a good place for all the ”enrichment and vibrancy” they are supposedly contributing to our society.


2

And here you have it. How many current politicians/leaders – people that make decisions that affect our lives, do “what God tells them”? And when do they do it? When it is convenient and easy. Look at all the people that say God told them to vote for Donald Trump. Brace yourselves, non-believers because this is the dark road we are being taken down – a road that goes BACKWARDS.


-1

Here we see one of the many reasons why I would prefer not to have someone’s “religion” dictating my reproductive health. Not to mention a strong argument for the separation of church and state.


-2

Don’t kid yourself, politics is a religion and too many voters will follow their party (God) no matter what. Heard of “Vote Blue No Matter Who”?


29

Brilliant! Just drink the kool-aid, don’t pay any attention to the person you are voting for, mark it and move on. No worries. What could possibly go wrong!


Sort of what is happening in Russia these past 20 years.


15

grrr: I hope you are talking about the Red Koolaid. Turn off Tucky and look up the term “psychological projection” – you’ve forgotten that no everyone thinks like the Dark Right.


-5

Must be confused. It’s the red party that will support their own, no matter what. Lying, cheating, law breaking, treasonous and Putin loving, No problem, he’s our guy.


-9

Freethebud: It’s always projection with these people. They have been behaving this way for so long they think it is how all people behave.


-5

Vote Blue No Matter Who sounds like something you picked up from Tucker. If it is indeed a thing it is only because our political Right has made it necessary. There are no middle-of-the road Republicans because people like you cannot seem to turn off Tucky.


-10

This tragedy has nothing, ZERO, to do with the recent draft opinion on Roe. Which by the way, puts the decision back to you, the voter. Furthermore, Alito’s opinion, makes it EXPLICIT that nothing in the summation applies to any other right, including birth control. Read it yourself.


Moreover, this religious group in San Jose does not in any way represent the vast population of Christians , be it Catholic or any other denomination. This was a terrible tragedy and devastating and our thoughts and prayers ought to be with this family.


Stop making everything political!!!


11

Ha! That’s funny, derasmus. A death on the front pages and NOW you want church and state separate! The vast population of Christians would LOVE to see us become a theocracy. God’s will, right? Just like it was God’s will that this toddler be murdered? Same god – same imaginary best friend up in the sky. It has everything to do with the murderous history of Christianity and religion has everything to do with politics in these dark times for America.


-6

Camus, there is nothing “funny” about planning a funeral for one’s child.


5