A 19-year-old teen in New York died while his brother was sent to the hospital after being seriously beaten by their parents and other members of the "World of Life Church", in an effort to get the teens confess to their sins.
Lucas Leonard was taken to the hospital in New Hartford but was pronounced dead last Monday, while his brother Christopher is now in a critical condition.
According to the news report from NBC News, New Hartford Police Chief Michael Inserra said that "Both brothers were continually subjected to physical punishment over the course of several hours, in the hopes that each would confess the prior sins and ask for forgiveness."
USA Today reported that the parents of the brothers, Bruce Leonard, 65, and Deborah Leonard were arrested along with four other members of "World of Life Church" namely Joseph Irwin, 26, Chadwicks, David Morey, 26, Utica, Linda Morey, 54, Utica, and the teens' half-sister, Sarah Ferguson, 33, Clayville. The parents were charged with first-degree manslaughter while the others were charged with assault.
According to Inserra, the church held a "counseling session" on Sunday night and "the session turned physical."
"This started as I guess you might call one of their practices within the church to have these counseling sessions to deal with people who have been believed to sin or confess to a sin," Lt. Timothy O'Neill of the New Hartford, N.Y., Police Department told USA Today. "We don't have a lot of insight into this group, but we do know that the pastor called the counseling session and these two boys were subject to extreme beatings over many, many hours."
The New Hartford Police Department are expecting additional arrest. Seven other children who were 'rescued' from the church were turned over to protective services.
Oneida County District Attorney Scott D. McNamara has set a bail of $100,000 for each parent and $50,000 for the others.
"We are not alleging that they intended to kill their son. We're just alleging they were trying to seriously hurt their son and ultimately he died from those injuries," said McNamara.
All suspects pleaded not guilty for all the charges against them.