Word of Life defendant paroled; more documentaries about the case

This story has been updated to include some clarifications.

Bruce Leonard, the father of the victim in the Word of Life Church case, was released from Marcy Correctional Facility on parole on Thursday just over eight and a half years after his son's death.

Leonard, 73, had pleaded guilty to first and second-degree assault and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He will serve five years of parole.

In total, nine people were sentenced to jail or prison time over a 14-hour counseling session in the Chadwicks church during which church members beat brothers Lucas, 19, and Christopher, 17 at the time, Leonard with an electrical cord in October, 2015.

Lucas died and Christopher was severely injured.

Church members had leveled a number of charges against the teens, including child molestation and witchcraft.

With Leonard’s release, only two of the nine defendants remain in prison, Tiffanie Irwin, 38, the church’s pastor, and Sarah Ferguson, 41, the victims’ half sister.

Public interest

After nine years, though, the case and accusations that the church was a cult continue to draw interest. The fourth episode of the Hulu series Cult Justice, which began streaming on March 28, features the case, based on a book by and interviews with Susan Ashline, Without a Prayer: The Death of Lucas Leonard and How the Church Became a Cult.

The episode includes an interview with Investigator Brad Pietryka, of the Oneida County District Attorney’s office, Oneida County District Attorney Todd Carville said.

The case and Ashline herself will also be featured in a docuseries coming out at the end of the summer on a major streaming service, Ashline said, noting that she can’t yet offer more details.

Leonard will remain on parole for five years.

“For me as a father,” Carville said, “no amount of time can ever take away the loss of a child and the greater punishment will be with him forever.”

Others involved

Irwin, who oversaw the counseling session, is serving a 12-year sentence at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. She pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault. She’ll be eligible for parole in March, 2026.

Ferguson, whose children Lucas and Christopher were falsely accused of molesting, is serving a 25-year prison sentence in Bedford Hills. The only defendant to go to trial, she was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault and two counts of first-degree assault.

She’ll be eligible for release in March, 2037.

Asked about the varying lengths of sentences, Carville pointed out that this was not his case. It was prosecuted under former district attorney Scott McNamara.

“My understanding was that the individual most responsible for causing the death of Lucas Leonard was Sarah Ferguson, who is doing 25 years,” Carville said. “That although Bruce played a role, his blows did not cause the death of his son. And so my understanding is that’s the reason for the different sentences. (They) were based on the culpability of the participants and what was just regarding their conduct.”

Here’s Ashline’s take on justice: “Justice is never served, especially in a case that saw such disparity in sentencing with some defendants serving lengthy prison sentences and others doing county jail time.”

Ashline also noted, though, that Bruce Leonard is the only who, at the time of sentencing, took “fully responsibility and expressed remorse.”

“This was a case of cult leaders brainwashing their followers, causing followers to commit acts they otherwise would not have committed,” she added. “Bruce was the only one who went through a deprogramming.”

Here’s what happened to the other defendants in the case:

• Deborah Leonard, 68, Bruce’s wife and Lucas’ mother, was released on parole on Jan. 16, 2020. She received a five-year sentence after pleading guilty to first- and second-degree assault.

• Joseph Irwin, 30, Tiffanie’s brother, was paroled on Oct. 3, 2022. He was serving an eight-year sentence for first-degree gang assault and second-degree assault.

• Linda Morey, 62, was released Feb. 29, 2020. She was serving a five-year sentence, with credit given for serving a year in Oneida County jail, on a second-degree assault charge.

• David Morey, 35, Linda Morey’s son, was released on the same day as his mother, having also been credited with one year in county jail toward his five-year sentence on a second-degree assault charge.

• Daniel Irwin, Tiffanie’s brother, and their mother, Traci Irwin, were both sentenced to two years in county jail on two counts of first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

While out on parole, some of the church members, including Deborah Leonard and Joseph Irwin, moved out of state, Ashline said.

“Last I knew,” she added, “many of the defendants, including the victim’s mother, remain in denial that they belonged in a cult and that what they did was wrong.”

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Father of Word of Life Church in Chadwicks beating victim paroled