Leonard Tells Why He Whipped His Sons at Word of Life Trial

By Sean I. Mills
Rome Sentinel
July 1, 2016

http://romesentinel.com/public-safety/leonard-tells-why-he-whipped-his-sons-at-word-of-life-trial/QBqpfD!XpZA3W8BCST8rCSWHKDAwg/

“Blows that hurt drive off evil.”

This paraphrased Bible verse — from Proverbs 20:30 — was going through Bruce Leonard’s mind as he and fellow Word of Life church members whipped his two sons with a power cord, according to his testimony in County Court Wednesday afternoon.

Lucas and Christopher Leonard had admitted to sexually molesting their younger siblings and nieces and nephews, and Bruce Leonard said he wanted to see them punished.

“So they understood the hurt that they had caused...discipline for punishing them,” Leonard testified. “It was more of a reaction to what they had said.”

Lucas, age 19, later died from his injuries. Christopher, 17, would have died from kidney failure, according to testimony, but he instead spent a week in the hospital.

District Attorney Scott D. McNamara asked Leonard if the whipping had been an “overreaction.” Leonard, a father of five, broke down in sobs as he admitted, “Yes.”

Leonard, 66, has already pleaded guilty to felony assault for the Oct. 11 attacks on his boys. He will be sentenced to up to 16 years in state prison.

As part of his plea, Leonard must testify against the other seven defendants in the Word of Life murder case. On Wednesday, he testified against his step-daughter, 33-year-old Sarah Ferguson. She is charged with murder, manslaughter, assault and gang assault for her role in whipping her younger brothers. Ferguson was expected to take the stand in her own defense this afternoon.

Leonard testified Wednesday that he was “surprised” when Word of Life Pastor Tiffanie Irwin called for a counseling session after regular church services on Oct. 11.

The Leonard family was asked to stay behind, and Lucas and Christopher Leonard were accused of sexual molestation, witchcraft and other offenses.

“I had some suspicions, wondering, but I didn’t have clear ‘for sure’ knowledge” about the sexual abuse, Leonard testified. “I did not have specifics; I wondered.”

Leonard said his sons were mostly silent at first about the sexual abuse, until another church member, Joseph Irwin, punched Christopher in the stomach for not answering. Leonard said he never told Irwin to punch his son. He said the violence against the boys escalated from there, until someone handed him the power cord.

“I whipped Luke, and I also whipped Christopher,” Leonard admitted on the stand. He said he whipped them both about 20 times in the back, and that the brothers cried out in pain and moved their hands to defend themselves. Leonard said the cord was folded over twice as he held it.

Leonard said both brothers admitted to sexually abusing their younger siblings and Ferguson’s children.

In his own testimony earlier this week, Christopher Leonard admitted to sexually abusing Ferguson’s children, but he also said he lied and embellished while being whipped because he thought that’s what the church members wanted to hear.

Bruce Leonard testified that he eventually passed the power cord to his step-daughter, Ferguson, and that she whipped the brothers even harder, aiming for their genitals. Leonard testified that both Lucas and Christopher fell to the ground at least twice while Ferguson was whipping them, and they were ordered to get back up. Leonard said Christopher was begging Ferguson to stop, while Lucas cried out in pain.

“I was letting it happen,” Leonard testified. He said the brothers were not in a situation where they were free to leave.

“We were, essentially, committed to getting it resolved,” Leonard said. “They couldn’t just go home. It was too big, too crazy. Yes, we could have gone home...but go home and do what?”

Leonard said he eventually stopped the whipping when he saw blood on Lucas’ pants. He said he checked out his sons’ injuries, and that the bleeding had stopped when he looked.

The brothers were then separated while the interrogations continued. Leonard said some of the facts of the molestation didn’t “fit” together for him. He said he does not believe the brothers were lying about the molestation because they did not want to be members of the Word of Life church anymore.