A New York mother has pleaded guilty to first and second-degree assault charges after taking part in an assault on Oct. 11 that badly injured one son and killed the other. Deborah Leonard, 59, admitted to the court that she had been involved in the religiously-motivated all-night beatings at the World of Life Christian church in New Hartford, according to Reuters.
Leonard spoke in court how the assaults were led and organized by Pastor Tiffanie Irwin, 29, in what was described as an all-night spiritual counseling session, according to The Guardian. Leonard's son Lucas, 19, had been thinking of leaving the church and subsequently was forced to undergo a 12-hour beating that took his life and left hospital staff assuming that he had been shot, as reported by The Guardian. Lucas' younger son Christoper, 17, was also injured during the incident.
The boys were hit with electrical cords and held down and punched, Leonard told the court on Dec. 2, saying that she had been "too scared and weak" to intervene, according to ABC News, though she admitted to hitting both sons with a cord and an open hand herself. She identified her husband Bruce Leonard, 65, as one of those chiefly responsible, along with Irwin, her son Joseph Irwin, 26, and parishioner David Morey, 26, as reported by Reuters.
Leonard originally faced first-degree manslaughter and assault charges for the death and injury of her sons. The reduced charges are reportedly an exchange for her testimony against the eight others accused in the case, including her husband, her daughter and Irwin, 29, who Leonard reportedly viewed as a prophet, according to ABC News.
All eight of the others involved pled not guilty to felony charges for murder, gang assault and kidnapping. The case is adjourned until Feb. 1, pending Leonard's cooperation with authorities in investigating the case. Judge Michael Dwyer remanded Leonard to jail without bail, according to Reuters.
