Judge sets bail for adults arrested at New Mexico compound
"TAOS, N.M. (AP) — A state judge on Monday cleared the way for five defendants who were arrested on child abuse charges at a remote New Mexico compound to be released pending trial despite authorities’ suspicions that the group was training children to use firearms for an anti-government mission.
Judge Sarah Backus set a $20,000 bond for each defendant and ordered that the two men and three women wear ankle monitors, have weekly contact with their attorneys, not consume alcohol and have no firearms....
Despite the release terms, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj is likely to remain in jail pending a warrant for his arrest in Georgia on accusations that he abducted his own son, Abdul-ghani, from the boy’s mother in December and fled to New Mexico. The four other defendants — Jany Leveille, Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj — may be released on house arrest as soon as Tuesday.
Family members say the remains of a boy found at the compound last week are those of Wahhaj’s disabled son, though state medical examiners have not yet identified the body conclusively. Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe testified Monday that the remains of a young boy were found inside tunnels that had been dug from inside the compound to an opening 100 feet (30 meters) away....
Agent Travis Taylor described interviews with two children from the compound, ages 13 and 15, after they were taken into protective custody by the state.
The 15-year-old described attempts to cast demonic spirits from Abdul-ghani’s body through a ritual that involved reading passages from the Quran while Siraj Ibn Wahhaj held a hand on the boy’s forehead, and that Abdul-ghani apparently died after one of the sessions, Taylor said.
He said the children were told that Abdul-ghani would be resurrected as Jesus and “would instruct others on the property about what corrupt institutions to get rid of,” in reference to financial and government institutions that might include schools."
Judge sets bail for adults arrested at New Mexico compound
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