Five charged with abusing children on New Mexico compound face detention hearing
TAOS, New Mexico: Five parents arrested on charges of abusing their 11 children at a New Mexico compound where a 12th child died under suspicious circumstances were due back in court on Monday for a hearing to decide whether the defendants should remain jailed without bond.
The five, all close relatives of a prominent New York City Muslim cleric who is the biological grandfather of most of the children involved, were taken into custody after a raid on the ramshackle settlement 10 days ago in the high desert north of Taos.
The principal suspect, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 39, also has been charged with custodial interference in the alleged abduction of his sickly 3year-oldson,Abdul-GhaniWahhaj, last December from the Atlanta home of the boy’s mother.
A cross-country search for the missing boy and his father ultimately led investigators to the 10-acre compound on the outskirts of the community of Amalia near the Colorado border. Eleven children, ranging from one to 15 years of age and described by authorities as clothed in rags and starving, were placed in protective custody during the Aug. 3 raid.
The remains of a young boy, believed to be Abdul-Ghani, were found buried at the site three days later. Authorities have said they were awaiting autopsy results to positively identify the remains and determine a cause and manner of death.