It only ended when church members noticed that Lucas was dead.
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Authorities say Lucas Leonard’s 17-year-old brother, Christopher Leonard, was beaten and seriously injured.
A judge in Central New York has ruled that prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed against two parents charged with beating their two teen sons, one fatally, during part of a church ritual, WBTV is reporting. The lawyer of Deborah Leonard said that she felt helpless when it came to stopping this intervention which she didn’t think would get so harsh.
They both deny the charges.
Deborah Leonard, 59, gazed down as the hearing began with a police officer testifying about photographs he took of Lucas’ bruised body.
The couple drove Lucas to a hospital where he died on Monday, claiming he was shot.
A witness, church deacon Daniel Irwin, testified in court that he saw Bruce Leonard whip his sons with what appeared to be a belt.
Lucas Leonard’s parents were in the courtroom for those three hours of testimony, listening to a church member and investigators recount the way the 19-year-old was brutally beaten for hours on end – punched and kicked and whipped with a cord. Christopher was hospitalized in a life threatening condition, but his health was improving.
Though Daniel Irwin testified that he had never sat through an entire counseling session, he said it was not typical for violence to take place during such events.
Joseph Irwin & Sarah Ferguson were in court wearing orange jumpsuits and with chains around their waists. Ferguson is the victims’ sister.
Firefighters expect to have favorable weather this weekend to help contain a rural Texas wildfire that has destroyed about 50 structures and consumed more than 7 miles of scorched and bone-dry forestland.
This case has been postponed till October 23.
Mr Inserra said the teens were subjected to hours of physical punishment “in hopes that each would confess to prior sins and ask for forgiveness”. All have pleaded not guilty.
There are thousands of small, independent Christian churches around the United States, many of them following a very strict fundamentalist theology, said David Bromley, a religion professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. They are due back in court in court December. 15.
Around 10am Monday, panicked church members ran up to Irwin and said they thought Lucas was dead. Four fellow members, including the teens’ sister, Sarah Ferguson, 33, were charged with second-degree assault. Their hearings will be held later.
Police have also rejected assertions that Lucas Leonard had been punished for molesting children who also belonged to Word of Life, a reclusive sect whose unusual activities in a former schoolhouse had long puzzled New Hartford residents.
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The fatal beating of a teenager at his church erupted during a counseling session over his desire to leave the congregation, members of the insular group told police.
