Police: Parents Allegedly Beat Son To Death In Brutal Church ‘Counseling Session’

Bruce Leornard, left, and Deborah Leonard, center, stand in the courtroom during their arraignment, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, in New Hartford, N.Y. The central New York couple have been charged with fatally beating th... Bruce Leornard, left, and Deborah Leonard, center, stand in the courtroom during their arraignment, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, in New Hartford, N.Y. The central New York couple have been charged with fatally beating their 19-year-old son inside a church, and four fellow church members have been charged with assault in an attack that also left the young man's brother severely injured, police said Tuesday. (Mark DiOrio/Observer-Dispatch via AP) ROME OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT MORE LESS
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NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. (AP) — A police official says brutal beatings that left one teenager dead and his brother seriously wounded at a New York church were part of what members considered a “counseling session.”

A police official says brutal beatings that left one teenager dead and his brother seriously wounded at a New York church were part of what members considered a “counseling session.”

New Hartford Police Chief Michael Inserra said Wednesday that both Lucas and Christopher Leonard were subjected to hours of physical punishment at the Word of Life Church “in hopes that each would confess to prior sins and ask for forgiveness.”

Inserra says investigators are still looking into what the supposed sins were. He said there’s no indication, at this point, that the issue was sexual assault.

Nineteen-year-old Lucas Leonard died. Seventeen-year-old Christopher is hospitalized in serious condition.

Six church members, including the victims’ parents and sister, are now locked up on charges they assaulted the two young men on Monday.

Bruce and Deborah Leonard have been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Lucas Leonard. Four other members of the Word of Life Church in New Hartford also have been charged in connection with the man’s death.

New Hartford police say Lucas Leonard died Monday after he was beaten at the church. Officials say his injured 17-year-old brother was found inside the church and is hospitalized in serious condition.

Police have scheduled a news conference for Wednesday morning to discuss their investigation.

Authorities have declined to discuss a motive or other details of the case.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. Avatar for gr gr says:

    Any murder is bad. Murder in the name of God is worse.
    Lock these fuckers up.

  2. Lock the whackjobs up for life and shut down their horrible and hateful fake church.

  3. Interesting how strong “belief” in god and severe mental illness sometimes go hand in hand.

  4. Huckabee: This is what the Lord wanted and it is an expression of Religious Freedom. Constitution and American Laws dont apply to American-Christian faith.

  5. At least their children won’t “spoil”. I hope the prosecutors go after these parents and the bystanding abetters hard.

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