A New York couple was charged with manslaughter in the death of their 19-year-old son after allegedly beating him for hours during a family counseling session inside the “sanctuary room” of an upstate Christian church, police said on Wednesday.
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The two brothers, 19-year-old Lucas Leonard and 17-year-old Christopher Leonard, were forced to attend the violent counseling session in which the teens were told to confess their sins or face physical retribution by parishioners and their own parents.
New Hartford Police Chief Michael Inserra said investigators are still looking into what the supposed sins were.
“Both brothers were subjected to physical punishment over the course of several hours, in hopes that each would confess to prior sins and ask for forgiveness”, Inserra said. The New Hartford Police Department say 65-year-old Bruce Leonard and 59-year-old Deborah Leonard of Clayville are charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of their son Lucas. Four others are facing second-degree assault charges.
The rush of police activity on Monday included a special operations team raid on the church that startled neighbors in the once thriving mill town of 22,000 people, though a few said they had been wary of the church members.
Christopher Leonard remains hospitalized with serious injuries, BuzzFeed reports.
Several church members were interviewed and several children were turned over to child welfare officials.
“He wasn’t in hiding, but he wasn’t making himself available, and the family members were not telling us where he was”, Inserra said.
Lawyers for the Leonard’s aren’t commenting.
Nancy Kneller, who works at a Catholic church next door to Word of Life, described the congregation as a close-knit group.
The authorities said there could be more arrests and charges in the case as they continued their investigation.
The victim’s parents, Bruce Leonard, 65, and Deborah Leonard, 59, were arraigned on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. From bottom left, Joseph Irwin, Sarah Ferguson and David Morey. Police have now arrested six assailants, but claim that more arrests will be made in the coming days.
Six church members, including a married couple, are in custody, accused of a brutal assault on two of the couple’s children that left one dead and another severely injured, according to law enforcement officials.
“The whole time I lived in this area, I thought it was abandoned”, Stephanie Coffin, a neighbor, said. Less than 10 people live at the church, including Irwin, Inserra said.
Lucas Leonard was brought to a local hospital in a private hospital and later died. “The cops have been called there before, they’re not allowed in the building, they can’t get in the building”. Officers stormed the New Hartford Word of Life church with guns drawn after narrowing down where the beating took place.
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“There were younger kids always playing on their bikes in the road”, he recalled.
