New Mexico police reportedly arrested four members of controversial Christian sect Sunday on more than 100 counts of child abuse.
The Cibola County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests of Peter Green, Deborah Green, (pictured) Stacey Miller, and Joshua Green, all members of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps. Allegations against the group range from allowing a boy to die from the flu to the repeated rape an adopted child, according to KOAT.
Identified as a “General” on the group’s website, Deborah is accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old Ugandan girl possibly smuggled into the country with fraudulent papers. The girl allegedly told investigators that Peter, Deborah’s son-in-law, raped her until she was 9-years-old. She also claimed that she was often beaten and treated like a slave.
Authorities charged Peter with 100 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor in light of the child’s allegations. Deborah is also facing sexual assault of a minor and child abuse charges. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCF) has since taken the girl out the home.
The members are also facing charges stemming from the 2014 death of Miller’s 12-year-old son. Arrest affidavits revealed that the boy succumbed to the flu after being denied proper medical treatment. The child reportedly sustained an oozing head wound and was unable to move his right side.
“It was a horrible situation,” Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace told the local station.
The child was supposedly buried on the property; his death wasn’t reported. Miller was charged with child abuse after allegedly telling officers that she didn’t get help for her son because “she wanted to trust God.”
Deborah was charged with neglect resulting in the death of a child stemming from the 12-year-old’s death. The leading member is accused of refusing to pay for medical treatment, deeming that the sick “must repent to be healed.”
The fourth member, Joshua, was arrested for not reporting his child’s birth. Investigators said he also never got birth certificates for his other children because he wanted to hide them from DCF.
Sunday’s arrests come a year after authorities launched an investigation into the religious group. Sheriff Mace said they started looking into the sect after two members claimed they escaped from the commune.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has deemed the Fence Lake-based sect a hate group. The group’s website is loaded with anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric.
Authorities noted that the 18 other children living on the commune showed no signs of abuse of neglect.
[Featured Image: Cibola County Sheriff’s Office]
