The bizarre judicial actions in the case of a New Mexico compound where alleged terrorist training and child abuse was occurring continues to baffle observers. Shortly after a judge ruled that the adults suspected of running a terror training camp for children, which resulted in the death of a three-year-old boy, should be released on a $20,000 signature bond, another judge has dismissed the charges of child neglect for three of the defendants.
On August 3rd, 2018, the Taos County Sheriff’s office raided a compound in Amalia, New Mexico. The FBI had been surveilling the compound since May, seeking a three-year-old boy named Abdul-Ghani Wahajj. His father, Siraj Ibn Wahajj, had kidnapped him from Clayton County, Georgia after returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia. He told the child’s mother that the boy’s severe medical conditions were being caused by demonic possession and that he wanted to take the boy off of his medication and conduct an exorcism.
Tipped off by an anonymous report that the children at the compound were starving and in need of water, law enforcement authorities executed a search warrant at the compound. Police officials found 11 children that were clearly being neglected; Abdul-Ghani was not among them. However, his father was there and he was heavily armed. Children told authorities that the young boy had died in February after being denied his medicine and subjected to bizarre religious rituals. All five adults on the compound were arrested, to include three women believed to be the mothers of the rescued children; all were charged with child abuse and one man was charged with harboring a fugitive, Siraj Ibn Wahajj. The children told investigators that Siraj had been training them to conduct school shootings; they also said that they had been ordered to shoot law enforcement in the instance of a raid.
Three days later, Abdul-Ghani’s body was found buried under human waste in a tunnel under the compound; his remains were discovered on what should have been his fourth birthday. Then, the compound was destroyed by authorities. A judge ruled that the accused should be released from custody. Now, it appears the state bungled statutory requirements to file documents required to continue the prosecution.
District Judge Emilio Chavez dismissed child abuse charges against Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj, and Hujrah Wahhaj after prosecutors missed a ten-day limit for a hearing to establish probable cause. Within hours, they were released from custody. Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Jany Leveille remain in custody with charges pending for the death of young Abdul-Ghani. For his part, Judge Chavez was not happy with dropping the charges but had no choice due to the prosecution either failing or refusing to meet the states “10-day rule.”
Speaking on the matter, Judge Chavez explained how his hand was forced: “The rule for dismissal without prejudice reads if the preliminary hearing is not held within the time of this rule, the court shall dismiss the case without prejudice and discharge the defendants.”
Reports indicate that the District Attorney’s office did not even have a prosecutor I attendance for the court hearing. Although not involved in the case, Taos County Judge Jeff McCelroy lamented: “There was no excuse and no reason why the District Attorney’s office could not have requested these preliminary hearings. I don’t know if they are overworked or they don’t have enough people at their office. I don’t see the district attorney here or the chief deputy district attorney, but it is disturbing to me that the district attorney would put this court in that kind of a situation.”
Judge McCelroy further explained that this is “a situation where the court is being caught between very public, very shocking information and a complete failure to follow proper procedures in prosecuting the case.”
The prosecution still has the option to pursue charges against the three released suspects by asking a grand jury to indict them. It remains unclear why the prosecution would let such a clear case of child abuse go unpunished, especially in light of the mounting evidence that the group was planning to force the children to conduct terror attacks against American schools and law enforcement. There are some fears that either politicians or the local police would be implicated if the cases were to go to trial, as they had been aware of activities on the compound for some time.
