KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Seven members of a church have been charged with abusing four children, including one who was tied to a bunk bed in a crucifixion pose. That child, the adoptive son of the church’s leaders, died last month as a result of later abuse, prosecutors said.

Neil and Christy Edgar, pastors of God’s Creation Outreach Ministry in Kansas City, Kan., and baby sitter Chasity Boyd, were charged last week in Johnson County with first-degree felony murder in the death of 9-year-old Brian Edgar. They are also charged in Johnson County with two counts of felony child abuse involving the couple’s adopted 9-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son.

At a news conference Thursday in neighboring Wyandotte County, Dist. Atty. Nick A. Tomasic said new child abuse charges were filed late Wednesday against seven members of the church, including Boyd, 19, who is charged with six counts, and Christy Edgar, 46, who is charged with one count.

Tomasic said members of the church disciplined children for disrespecting adults and not paying attention at church by hogtying them and leaving them in that position overnight.

Extension cords, belts and black plastic ties were used to bind the children and tape was placed over their mouths, Tomasic said. He also said one child was left bound in a bathtub overnight. And a 12-year-old child who knew the Edgars was bound and locked in a closet in the church on New Year’s Eve several years ago.

When asked what the surviving children think of their parents, Tomasic said: “Without exception, when the children first were talked to, they didn’t want to talk. They said their parents in effect weren’t doing anything wrong. They were just following the teachings of the church.”

The other church members charged with abuse in Wyandotte County are Renita D. Allen-Jackson, 40, and Barbara Clark, 45, both of Kansas City, Kan., charged with two counts each. Also charged with one count Wednesday were Neil Edgar’s sister, Julia Edgar-Montgomery, 54; Idella A. Horton, 22; and Patricia A. Walker, 44, all of Kansas City, Kan.

The church members are accused of abusing the Edgar’s three adopted children, including Brian, and the 12-year-old boy who knew the family, between December 1999 and Jan. 3.

The Edgars were originally charged in Brian’s death Dec. 31 in Wyandotte County and Boyd was charged there three days later. Those charges were dropped and refiled in Johnson County on Jan. 10, after authorities determined Brian died in Overland Park, not Kansas City, Kan.

Johnson County prosecutors on Wednesday charged another woman, Chauntel Williams, 29, of Kansas City, Mo., with aiding a felon. Investigators believe Williams helped hide evidence in Brian’s death.

Tomasic said his office was struggling to get information about the church, including whether the alleged abuse was part of its teachings. Two years ago, another member of God’s Creation was convicted of abusing his four children at the church youth center.

Clifford Jackson, superintendent of the Church of God in Christ’s Pentecostal District Assn., of which God’s Creation is a member, and officials at the Church of God in Christ’s headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., did not immediately return telephone messages seeking comment. Jackson said earlier that strict physical discipline of children was not part of the church’s teaching.