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Hands and feet shackled, Bruce and Deborah Leonard walked into New Hartford Town Court Friday to face manslaughter charges.
Police say they beat their teenage sons inside a sanctuary at the Word of Life Christian Church for hours Sunday night during a counseling session. Their 19-year-old son Lucas Leonard died.
According to documents seen by the New York Times, church member Daniel Irwin says the session began after a Sunday night service in which the teenager confessed to practicing witchcraft and said he wanted church elders to die. At a hearing on Friday, Irwin, a church deacon, testified that he had seen Leonard’s father beating him with what looked like a belt, reports Reuters. Police say it was an electrical cord.
Church members and a neighbor have told police that Lucas wanted to leave the church, possibly to join the Army, NBC reports. The teenager’s parents and half-sister are among six people charged in the death.
His 17-year-old brother, Christopher, was also beaten and is recovering in hospital. Irwin testified that the last time he saw Lucas, he “was rolling himself back and forth on the floor and making a sustained monotone moan.” Police say they have found nothing to back up claims that Lucas had sexually abused children in the church, and former Word of Life members tell the Times that church leaders had been known to spread such rumors as a way of maintaining total control over the congregation.
Agencies/Canadajournal
