Release of suspects in child abuse case spurs furor, threats
TAOS, N.M. — A judge’s decision to allow the release of an extended family accused of child abuse at a ramshackle desert compound in New Mexico prompted a political uproar Tuesday.
“You have a person who is training kids to shoot up schools, they have a compound that is like a thirdworld country,” state Republican Party Chairman Ryan Cangiolosi said. “There’s a child’s body on the compound — I believe that allowing them to be released is absurd.”
State District Court Judge Sarah Backus on Monday cleared the way for the release of four defendants, despite assertions by prosecutors that the group was training children to use firearms for an anti-government mission and should remain in jail pending trial.
The father of a severely disabled boy who was kidnapped in Georgia will not be released because an arrest warrant has been issued for him in that state.
Eleven children were taken into custody at the compound during an Aug. 3 raid. Authorities returned three days later and recovered the body of a small boy.
Backus, an elected Democrat, said her decision to grant release to house arrest, with conditions such as wearing ankle monitors, was tied to recent reforms of the state’s pre-trial detention system that set a high bar for incriminating evidence needed to hold suspects without bail.
“The state alleges that there was a big plan afoot, but the state hasn’t shown to my satisfaction and by clear and convincing evidence what that plan was,” Backus told the courtroom, noting that none of the defendants has a criminal record.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Siraj Ibn Wahhaj provided some of the children with firearms training, including tactical skills such as speed-loading guns and firing while in motion. Along with rifles, handguns and ammunition, authorities say they found books on being effective in combat.
Officials say Backus was the target of threats via social media, email and telephone. One caller made a death threat, said Barry Massey, a spokesman for the Administrative Office off the Courts.