There was another custody hearing Tuesday for members of an Attleboro religious sect who are refusing to tell the state whether they have had another child -- a child the state has yet to locate.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that the sect members do not believe in traditional medicine or government, and so have refused to answer a judge's questions about whether an infant has recently been born to Rebecca and David Corneau.
The couple's four other children have already been taken into state Department of Social Services custody after one of the Corneaus other children, a boy, was found dead and buried in a Maine state park.
The state has been granted temporary custody of their newborn, if there is a newborn, and investigators are trying to locate it. The state is claiming that Rebecca Corneau delivered the baby around Thanksgiving.
Investigators are also looking for another couple that may have knowledge of the child or who may be hiding the infant.
"In my own observations, I know for a fact she was pregnant," state attorney John Rego said.
But the Corneaus aren't talking to anyone.
"My clients declined to answer questions based on their freedom of religion, their right to privacy and their rights under the Fifth Amendment and Article 12 of the Massachusetts constitution," said their attorney J.W. Carney.
A search for the baby at the sect's Attleboro home yielded nothing.
"There is no evidence that David and Rebecca Corneau have ever abused any of their children. It borders on a witch hunt to be bringing them back into court for a proceeding like this," Carney said.
Some of the sect's Rehoboth, Mass., neighbors were on the witness stand Tuesday morning, reportedly testifying to having seen Rebecca Corneau pregnant. The state plans to call about six witnesses, who will then be cross-examined by the Corneau's attorney. He said he does not plan to call any witnesses.
It will then be up to a judge to determine whether the Corneaus are in contempt of court for not giving information and not revealing whether they've had another child.