Father Of NY Teen Killed In Church Beating Pleads Guilty

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published June 22, 2016 at 4:09 PM EDT

The father of a 19-year-old New York man who was beaten to death during a church counseling session has pleaded guilty for his role in the attack, which also injured another son.

Bruce Leonard pleaded guilty to assault Wednesday in Oneida County Court, where he is scheduled to go on trial on a more serious murder charge Thursday.

As part of the plea, Leonard will have to testify against his step-daughter, Sarah Ferguson, who's among seven others awaiting trial for the October attack that killed Lucas Leonard and injured 17-year-old Christopher Leonard. Authorities have said the boys had discussed leaving the secretive Word of Life Church.

Ferguson's murder trial is scheduled for Thursday. The others face trial in September.

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Central New York News word of life church

Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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