Four members of a religious sect have pleaded not guilty to charges connected to a child abuse investigation into the secluded group.
Deborah Green, Peter Green, James Green and Stacey Miller all appeared at Cibola County District Court on Monday said allegations being brought against the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps are false.
Co-leader Deborah and high-ranking leader Peter are both being held on $500,000 cash surety bond in connection with child sexual abuse charges stemming for a two-year long investigation.
Their trial date has been set for May 2018.
Four members of a religious sect have pleaded not guilty to charges connected to a child abuse investigation into the secluded group. Deborah, 70 (pictured) one of the sect’s co-leaders, is facing several charges including child abuse, sexual penetration of a minor and failure to report a birth.
Her son, Peter Green, 54 (pictured), ranked just below Deborah in the organization is facing 100 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child.
Both Deborah (left) and Peter (right) are both being held on $500,000 cash surety bond in connection with child sexual abuse charges stemming for a two-year long investigation. Their trial has been set for May 2018
Deborah, 70, is facing several charges including child abuse, sexual penetration of a minor and failure to report a birth.
Detectives say her son, Peter Green, 54, – also known as Mike Brandon – is ranked just below Deborah in the organization.
He faces 100 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child. He’s accused of raping a girl from the time she was seven.
Joshua Green, identified by Deborah as her ‘commune son,’ was charged with failure to report a child’s birth, a felony in New Mexico. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $5,000 bond, said Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace.
Stacey Miller, 47, who was living in a sect safe house, is now being held on a $20,000 cash or surety bond after pleading not guilty to charges of child abuse and neglect.
It was the death of Miller’s 12-year-old son that prompted the August 20 raid on the group which sits in the New Mexican desert.
Miller reportedly failed to get her son medical attention when he contracted the flu, and he later died. Her attorney says she has four living children who live with their father in Missouri.
Joshua Green (pictured), identified by Deborah as her ‘commune son,’ was charged with failure to report a child’s birth, a felony in New Mexico
It was the death of member Stacy Miller’s (pictured) 12-year-old son that prompted the August 20 raid on the group which sits in the New Mexican desert
Also facing charges is Deborah’s husband, co-leader James Green, accused of kidnapping, child abuse and tampering with evidence.
Authorities says James took part in a plot to bring over an infant child from Uganda to the United States in 1997 by using forged documents, court documents said.
James Green allegedly convinced his daughter, Sarah, to falsely say the child was hers to smuggle her into the US documents said.
The daughter later left the commune, but the Greens refused to let her take two of her children and the adopted Ugandan girl with her, according to court documents.
The Cibola County Sheriff’s Office says 11 children who lived at the compound are being cared for by the state and have been interviewed by an FBI forensic specialist.
Joshua (left) was released on $5,000 bond. Stacy Miller, 47 (right)pleaded not guilty to charges of child abuse and neglect.
The Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, founded in Sacramento, California, describes itself as a group that is ‘revolutionary for Jesus’ and provides a free spiritual ‘ammo pack’ to anyone who submits a written request
They were taken into custody after deputies arrested four members who were trying to leave the state with the children in two vans, said Sheriff Mace.
The Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, founded in Sacramento, California, describes itself as a group that is ‘revolutionary for Jesus’ and provides a free spiritual ‘ammo pack’ to anyone who submits a written request.
Its website was laced with anti-Semitic language and anti-gay tirades about same-sex marriage until the posts were recently deleted.
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the sect as a hate group.