New Hartford, New York (CNN)The fatal beating of Lucas Leonard in the sanctuary of Word of Life Christian Church came after the teenager had "expressed a desire to leave" the secretive upstate New York church, New Hartford Police Chief Michael Inserra said Friday.

That wish, according to Inserra, apparently prompted a counseling session on the spiritual state of Lucas and his younger brother, Christopher. During the sessions, the teens were beaten with a cord and Lucas Leonard suffered injuries so severe that emergency room doctors thought he had been shot, Inserra said.

On the day their parents, Bruce T. Leonard, 65, and Deborah R. Leonard, 59, appeared in court on charges of first-degree manslaughter -- a Class B felony -- authorities disclosed a possible motive for a crime that has shaken a tiny village about 250 miles north of New York City. Four other church members were charged with second-degree assault, also a felony.

Judge William Virkler ruled the cases will go to the grand jury. The Leonards will remain in custody until the grand jury can hear evidence, and bail is $100,000 for each defendant.

Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara expects that by the time the case is presented to the grand jury there will be additional charges and more people charged as well.

A witness at a probable cause hearing told a judge the counseling session lasted 14 hours, beginning Sunday night and ending Monday morning. Daniel Irwin, who lives in the church, said the session ended when people thought Lucas had died.

A violent turn

Inserra told reporters the purpose for the counseling session was a key part of the investigation.

"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," he said.

Family members took Lucas, 19, by car Monday afternoon to a hospital in Utica, where he was pronounced dead.

His 17-year-old brother was hospitalized in serious condition after suffering blunt-force trauma injuries during the same church session, police said. It's unclear why Christopher Leonard was beaten.

The younger brother, who had to be drawn out by authorities from a hiding area in the church, is alert and cooperating, Inserra said.

The assaults occurred after a Sunday night service at the church. The so-called counseling session turned violent for some reason and the teens were repeatedly beaten through the night, according to the police chief.

Lucas was taken to the hospital after church members found he wasn't breathing, police said. At the hospital, Bruce Leonard accused the victim of molesting children as a possible justification for his injuries -- an allegation that Inserra said is unfounded.

After the assaults, seven children at the church were turned over to local child welfare authorities.

"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."

Inserra said, "There is no evidence these brothers did anything. They are, at this point, true victims."

An autopsy showed Lucas suffered multiple contusions from blunt-force trauma to the torso and extremities, authorities said. A combination of the injuries plus the duration of assault contributed to his death. The beatings included blows to the genital area of the teens.

Inserra said doctors took an injury to Lucas' groin area to be "a gunshot wound, an entry wound."

Witness testimony

Irwin told the judge the counseling session took place after Sunday's service, which was attended by about 30 people.

Irwin said he saw Bruce Leonard strike Lucas repeatedly in the back with what he thought was a belt. Christopher also was struck in the back.

Irwin said he left the sanctuary and decided to move five young children from another room after hearing a loud voice from the session.

When the session ended at about 10 a.m. Monday Irwin's brother, who also is a defendant, came to him in a panic, he said.

Daniel Irwin said he overheard someone say, "Lucas is dead."

Irwin went to the sanctuary of the former school and saw Lucas on the floor. Irwin's mother was performing CPR on the teen, he said. Lucas' brother, Christopher, was hysterical, Irwin said.

The witness told the court that he had earlier seen Lucas on the floor, alert but "rolling around making a sustained monotone noise."

Another witness, State Police Sgt. Todd Grant, said Bruce Leonard made admissions about what happened to his son and agreed to write a statement. The interrogation was videotaped. At no point did Bruce Leonard ask about his son, Irwin says.

Later, the sergeant said, Deborah Leonard said she had struck Lucas with a cord. When Grant removed a cord from the back of a computer and asked her to demonstrate how she hit him, the investigator said, Deborah Leonard struck a table violently.
Teen dies in N.Y. church assault

Teen dies in N.Y. church assault 02:29

Don Gerace, attorney for Bruce Leonard, has entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of his client, whom he said has no criminal history and has lived in the community more than two decades. Leonard has been a church member for eight years.

"In the state of New York he is charged with manslaughter in the first degree, which requires intent to cause serious bodily injury and I do not believe there was any intent," Gerace said this week.

Deborah Leonard's attorney, Devin Garramone, said his client had a stent put in due to a heart condition and requires constant medical attention.

"I cannot imagine my client had anything to do with these injuries, especially in the condition she is in," he said.

Bail for the other four church members was set Wednesday at $50,000 each.

Inserra identified them as as Joseph Irwin, David Morey, Linda Morey and Sarah Ferguson, a stepsister of the victims and mother of four of the children in the care of child welfare authorities.

Virkler granted prosecutors until October 23 to present evidence in the cases of Joseph Irwin and Sarah Ferguson because Christopher Leonard is still in the hospital.

Assistant District Attorney Dawn Lupi said there is "strong possibility" Irwin and Ferguson will face more serious charges. Inserra said investigators will consult prosecutors about the possibility of additional arrests or charges.

A former Word of Life church member, who asked not to be identified, said she was a babysitter for the teenage brothers and was shocked by the beatings.

The church, which began in 1984, has about five families, or about 35 members, including children, according to the former member. She described the congregation as a "makeshift family" that had been together for 25 years.

"We weren't originally isolated from the community," she said.

Over time, there was friction between the church and a neighboring community, she said.

"We put up the hedges," she said.

"Then the neighbors got angry because they couldn't see what's going on anymore."

But the ex-member denied reports the church is a cult.

"I realize this situation makes it look like this," she said, "but if you listen to the teachings, they are accurate to the Bible."

Responding to a reporter's question, Inserra said he had no information about whether the group is a cult.

Inserra said police had been called to the church on a handful of occasions after church member complaints about noise and disorderly conduct.

The Utica School District has employed Bruce Leonard as a teaching assistant since 2007, Proctor High School Principal Steven Falchi told CNN. He has been at Proctor High School in Utica since 2010, Falchi said.

Leonard works with a certified teacher and other teaching assistants in the special education department, Falchi said. He works with "severely and profoundly disabled students," Falchi said.

"We were very shocked to learn the news," said Falchi, adding he was not aware of previous complaints or disciplinary action against Leonard. "He was a hard worker and was exceptionally compassionate about his work with our students. It came as quite a shock."

Lucas Leonard and his younger brother were home-schooled, according to Ronald Wheelock, superintendent for Sauquoit Valley Central School District.

The school district's involvement with the teens was limited, with the parents sending the district curriculum proposals at the beginning of the year, Wheelock said.

 LethalShade wrote:
Never heard of such thing in France, 'cause religion isn't really important here. That's really messed up.

 LethalShade wrote:
Well, yeah ?

 jasper76 wrote:
I don't have kids, but reading stuff like this makes me wonder if there is some deep-seeded part of the some people's psychology that makes them feel that their kids must conform to what they believe and how they act.

Some time ago, a somewhat similar tragedy unfolded at my alma matter. A father visited his two sons at the university, and both of the sons disclosed to him that they were homosexuals. The father became distraught, murdered both of his children on campus, then committed suicide.

yellowfever wrote:
Religion setting the example again. This time it's Christians. Next month catholics. Muslims pretty much all the time. I was lucky my family showed me how corrupt all religion is at an early age.

I still feel sorry for the family. Unless of course they were in on it.

 LethalShade wrote:

yellowfever wrote:
Religion setting the example again. This time it's Christians. Next month catholics. Muslims pretty much all the time. I was lucky my family showed me how corrupt all religion is at an early age.

I still feel sorry for the family. Unless of course they were in on it.

If it wasn't for religion, we would murder each other for other motives. Politics, economy and so on. Religion isn't the only corrupt thing about humanity.

 LethalShade wrote:

yellowfever wrote:
Religion setting the example again. This time it's Christians. Next month catholics. Muslims pretty much all the time. I was lucky my family showed me how corrupt all religion is at an early age.

I still feel sorry for the family. Unless of course they were in on it.

If it wasn't for religion, we would murder each other for other motives. Politics, economy and so on. Religion isn't the only corrupt thing about humanity.

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:

yellowfever wrote:
Religion setting the example again. This time it's Christians. Next month catholics. Muslims pretty much all the time. I was lucky my family showed me how corrupt all religion is at an early age.

I still feel sorry for the family. Unless of course they were in on it.

If it wasn't for religion, we would murder each other for other motives. Politics, economy and so on. Religion isn't the only corrupt thing about humanity.

Slow down buddy. Just because we found one example of corrupt religion does not mean everybody who takes part in a religion is corrupt

Relapse wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:

yellowfever wrote:
Religion setting the example again. This time it's Christians. Next month catholics. Muslims pretty much all the time. I was lucky my family showed me how corrupt all religion is at an early age.

I still feel sorry for the family. Unless of course they were in on it.

If it wasn't for religion, we would murder each other for other motives. Politics, economy and so on. Religion isn't the only corrupt thing about humanity.

There are definitely ample examples of wars, people being murdered, exploited, etc. for reasons far removed from religion.

 LethalShade wrote:

Relapse wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:

yellowfever wrote:
Religion setting the example again. This time it's Christians. Next month catholics. Muslims pretty much all the time. I was lucky my family showed me how corrupt all religion is at an early age.

I still feel sorry for the family. Unless of course they were in on it.

If it wasn't for religion, we would murder each other for other motives. Politics, economy and so on. Religion isn't the only corrupt thing about humanity.

There are definitely ample examples of wars, people being murdered, exploited, etc. for reasons far removed from religion.

Yep, I know. That's pretty much what I said: We'll kill each other with or without religion.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
Eternal salvation is a huge carrot, and eternal damnation is an equally large stick. Get a true believer, and they will kill for that cause even when they wouldn't for any earthly reason.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
It seems fair, in a thread about 2 boys being beaten by some unwisely ardent religious folks to allow religion to take the blame for this one.

To say that organized religion causes nothing but death and destruction is of course not true. But to say that the people killing for faith would have just found other reasons to kill seems equally disingenuous. Eternal salvation is a huge carrot, and eternal damnation is an equally large stick. Get a true believer, and they will kill for that cause even when they wouldn't for any earthly reason.

The ones responsible for this atrocity were execrable human beings- but they probably considered this action necessary to save the souls of their boys. That makes their brand of religion every bit as vicious as they are.

 motyak wrote:
He pretty clearly didn't mean that. Unless you were one of the people to beat the boys, which I doubt. No need to go looking for a fight in posts that don't have them there, this is a religious thread. The fight will start eventually with the posts that intend to offend other users.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
Read that last sentence again very carefully. I'm a witch and ex-Christian. Never once have I felt my religion required me to beat a boy to death for leaving a church or religion.

I call any faith that requires that of its members monstrous. I really, really hope that doesn't apply to your type of theism. If it does- leave them immediately!

There are fanatics in every faith. That this happened in a church strongly implies that at least leaders of this congregation felt this was an appropriate action. If it came across as me targeting all religion then I've made a huge mistake. I detest religions that think it's cool to kill people that don't agree with their beliefs and kill members who try to leave.