Las Vegas NowLas Vegas Woman Fights Religious Group to Save Her Daughter

Las Vegas Woman Fights Religious Group to Save Her Daughter

An anguished mother can't understand why her daughter has abandoned family and friends for the confines of a local evangelical church. Loved ones say 19-year-old Sharona Dagani isn't the same person since becoming involved with the church.

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It's tough to tell the story since the central figure in the whole thing is not available to the I-Team. What's more, the church that is now the center of Sharona Dagani's life won't talk on camera. What we know is that a tug of war is under way concerning a young woman and a nearly $2 million trust fund.

The International Church of Las Vegas, a dynamic and growing congregation, does not accept disease -- not cancer, not multiple sclerosis, none of them. At multiple services that run morning to night, six days a week, twelve pastors and a staff of 100 mix multimedia presentations with old fashioned chanting, the laying on of hands, and speaking in tongues.

Miracles are expected, they say. Joan Albstein thinks this is one reason her daughter Sharona was attracted to the church. "They are told the more you give, the more you get," Albstein said.

It's not hard to see why a miracle cure might appeal to Sharona Dagani. The 19-year-old was dealt a tough hand from birth. Cerebral palsy complicated by medical malpractice, numerous operations, and cancer as a young teen have left her without the use of her limbs and totally dependent on caregivers. Until recently, that meant her mom.

Joan Albstein says she did everything she could to give Sharona as normal a life as possible. Sharona was in the Girl Scouts, was deeply involved in her Jewish faith, graduated from high school early, and was on the student council at UNLV. She had a rich life and many friends.

Things changed in 2006 when Sharona's mother hired a part-time caregiver from an agency. Within two months, Sharona informed her mom in a letter that she was moving out. More shocking was that she decided to leave the Jewish faith. Albstein suspects the caregiver -- a Ms. Perez -- of planting the seeds and for an ancient motive.

A malpractice settlement put nearly $2 million into a trust for Sharona's care. Not long after she moved out with Ms. Perez, Sharona went to court to try and gain control of the trust.

Attorney Scott Cantor said, "I think the caregiver was trying to influence Sharona away from her mom with the idea that she would step in as primary caregiver and have access to her money. Because Sharona believed that at 18 the money was going to be handed to her. But there was a guardianship in place. She was telling Sharona that Joan did not have her interests at heart that she was the guardian just for her money, that Joan did not love her."

Joan Albstein says she used cell phone records to find out that, through Perez, Sharona had become deeply involved with the International Church of Las Vegas and was attending services three or four days a week to the exclusion of everything else. When Joan tried to visit her daughter at a residence, she was informed her name was on a no-visit list. Sharona's girlfriends got the same treatment. Sharona was cut off, even when she came to court.

Scott Cantor continued, "Observing them before they left the courtroom, they never left Sharona alone. They hovered around her, enveloped her, they always had hands on her, their faces up into her face. She never had any room or space."

Friends who went to the church to see her say they were rebuffed too, not allowed to speak to Sharona alone. They say the always well-groomed girl didn't look or act like herself, that she seemed dirty and spaced out. Her mother says Sharona has stopped meeting with her doctors, no longer receives therapy, and has no life other than church. Legal efforts to free up the trust fund continue. It's been tough on those who care about her.

Sharona's mother, Joan Albstein: "I'm sick to my stomach, I mean, I want to cry, but..."

The I-Team's George Knapp: "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Joan Albstein: "I love my daughter. I miss her and love her and want her to be the best she can be. She's become a non-person, a non-person."

The I-Team made repeated attempts to interview church leaders. They've declined, saying they are trying to protect the privacy of church members. In a faxed statement, though, a spokesman told the I-Team that any allegations of undue influence by church members are false, that the church has investigated and has found no improper conduct.

The I-Team has also attempted to reach Sharona but has been unsuccessful until earlier Monday evening when she called us and agreed to meet Tuesday.

Is it just the mom's word against her daughter's associates? Tuesday at 11 p.m., you'll hear from some third parties and, hopefully, from Sharona.

Email your comments to Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp.