The teenage boy who was mauled to death by his own parents inside a church in New York state had "expressed a desire to leave" the secretive Word of Life Christian Church, New Hartford Police Chief Michael Inserra said on Friday.
Lucas Leonard, 19, and his brother Christopher, 17, were beaten with a cord by their parents—Bruce T. Leonard, 65, and Deborah R. Leonard, 59— and four other church members inside the place of worship during a counselling session right after the Sunday evening service, Inserra said, as reported by CNN.
The counselling session, the police chief said, was apparently prompted by Lucas' expressed desire to leave the congregation. "The victim expressed a desire to leave the church and this is what may have initiated the session. We still have not concluded why the session turned so violent," Inserra said.
Lucas was beaten so badly that emergency room doctors who tried to revive him thought he had been shot in the groin as they found a wound there, Inserra said.
The Leonard couple were slapped with first-degree manslaughter charges in the incident that has shaken a small community about 250 miles north of New York City. The four other church members were charged with second-degree assault.
Judge William Virkler ruled that the Leonards will remain in police custody until a grand jury hears the cases.
Daniel Irwin, a witness during the probable cause hearing, told the judge the counselling session lasted 14 hours, beginning Sunday night and ending Monday morning when people thought Lucas had died as a result of the beating.
Christopher, Lucas' brother, remained in hospital in serious condition with blunt-force trauma injuries. It's still not clear whether Christopher also wanted to leave the church.
After the Leonards brought their two sons to the hospital, Bruce was reported to have told the doctors that his two sons were beaten because they were molesting children inside the church.
The police found seven children inside the church whey they arrested the Leonard couple. The children at the church were turned over to local child welfare authorities.
Inserra denied Bruce Leonard's claim that the two teeners were abusing the children in the church. "These children were interviewed at length ... and they were examined by medical professionals," Inserra said. "There's absolutely no indication of any sexual abuse to any of these children."
An autopsy showed that Lucas suffered multiple contusions from blunt-force trauma to the torso and extremities, authorities said. The beatings included blows to the genital area of the teens, the investigators said.
The severe injuries the teens received and the long period where they were beaten contributed to Lucas' death and Christopher's injuries, the police said.
Irwin said he saw Bruce Leonard striking Lucas repeatedly in the back with what he thought was a belt. Christopher was also struck in the back.
Don Gerace, counsel for Bruce Leonard, entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of his client, noting that Leonard had no criminal history and has lived in the community for more than two decades. Leonard has been a church member for eight years.
