Christian Sect Raid Plan to Avoid Violence

Washington Post
August 23, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/the-latest-authorities-eye-status-of-children-found-at-sect/2017/08/22/45e967e6-8767-11e7-96a7-d178cf3524eb_story.html?utm_term=.47791903a391

The Latest on a New Mexico military-style Christian sect facing child abuse charges (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

A sheriff says authorities carefully planned a raid of a New Mexico paramilitary Christian sect amid a child sexual abuse investigation to avoid potential violence.

Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace told The Associated Press on Tuesday deputies surprised the sect’s Fence Lake, New Mexico, compound during church services to make sure everyone was located in one place.

Mace says authorities were concerned armed sect members might try to stop deputies’ attempt to arrest leaders on child abuse and child sexual abuse charges.

During the Sunday raid, authorities arrested three members in connection with a child abuse and child sex abuse investigation. A former member was arrested in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

Mace says deputies also found weapons and silencers.

___

1:30 p.m.

Former members of a New Mexico paramilitary Christian sect whose leaders are facing child sexual abuse charges say the group kept members and children in “slavery.”

Julie Gudino told The Associated Press on Tuesday as a member of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps she was forced into hard labor and her son was often physically beaten by leaders.

The 50-year-old says she joined the sect when it was based in Sacramento, California, to get out of gangs and they seemed to provide a family atmosphere at first.

But she says in her 20 years as a member she saw children beaten and suspected some may have been sexually abused.

Authorities raided the sect’s Fence Lake, New Mexico, compound on Sunday and arrested three leaders.

The group denies the claims.

___

11:45 a.m.

Authorities investigating a New Mexico military-style Christian sect for child sexual abuse say they are trying to determine if the group brought children into the country illegally.

Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace tells The Associated Press on Tuesday that investigators found a number of children during a raid of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps in remote Fence Lake, New Mexico.

During the Sunday raid, authorities arrested three members in connection with a child abuse and child sex abuse investigation. A former member was arrested in Truth or Consequence, New Mexico.

Mace says deputies also found weapons and silencers.

Deborah Green, Joshua Green and Stacey Miller face various charges ranging from child abuse, bribery and not reporting a birth. Peter Green faces 100 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child.

The group says all charges are false.

A former member of a military-style Christian sect says that for years she’s been trying to draw attention to the New Mexico group whose leader has been charged with dozens of counts of child sexual abuse.

Maura Alana Schmierer told The Associated Press on Monday that she had been interviewed by investigators recently about the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps.

Schmierer left the sect in the late 1980s. She said she’s “been trying to expose them for years” and appeared in a National Geographic Television show documenting her experience.

According to a criminal complaint filed Aug. 15, Peter Green of the group based in the remote community of Fence Lake faces 100 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child. Several other sect members also face various charges.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.