Pro-life advocate says his wife and daughter need exorcisms

From the Fredericton Daily Gleaner:

An anti-abortion activist told a court Thursday he needs a delay in his tax trial due to family illness, claiming his wife and stepdaughter are possessed.

David Little, 60, is scheduled to go to trial May 23 on charges of failing to file income tax returns for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002.

He said he refuses to pay taxes because he contends tax money is used in part to fund abortion procedures. He argues that to force him to indirectly participate violates his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He was in court Thursday, seeking to have his trial delayed because he has to focus his attention on ailing family members.

On March 1, Judge Leslie Jackson told Little to return to court with evidence of the nature of those illnesses and how long it would take for those personal matters to be resolved.

Little said Thursday his wife and stepdaughter are suffering from "demonic oppression" and need to undergo exorcism rituals in order to be healed.

Prosecutor Suhanya Edwards said Little's open-ended request for an adjournment is unreasonable.

She said there was no specific evidence as to how long he thought it would take for his family to get well.

Little said some exorcism rituals resolve the problem after only one session, but he's also aware of one exorcism that has been ongoing in Rome for 16 years.

"Lucifer was the most intelligent of all the angels," he said, and the Devil won't be "pigeonholed" into a timetable.

The battle between God and the Devil "is a war, a real vicious war," he said.

"I'm going to stay with (my wife) until she's well."

Little filed letters and documentation with the court from his wife and from a woman he said is familiar with exorcism rituals.

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During his submissions, Little said his wife has already undergone one exorcism ritual Monday and further sessions were expected.

He said two Christian but non-Catholic women performed the rituals in the area and have done so with success many times. He did not name them.

Little also said he'd been in touch with Bishop Faber MacDonald, bishop for the Diocese of Saint John, of which Fredericton is a part.

He said the bishop was performing "prayers of exorcism" on his family's behalf.

When contacted at his office Thursday afternoon, MacDonald said Little's representations that he's performing exorcism prayers is not entirely accurate.

"That's his interpretation," the bishop said.

He described what the Little family members are going through as something of "a deliverance" and "an awakening of the mystery of evil."

The bishop said they are wrestling with personal demons and trying to improve their lives through God.

"Spiritual crisis is a good expression," he said.

MacDonald said it is not a case of a separate, demonic entity inhabiting a person's body.

"It's a very personal matter," the bishop said.