New Mexico compound defendants face detention hearing

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 they should remain jailed.

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 their makeshift settlement 10 days ago in the high desert north of Taos.

The principal suspect, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 39, also has been charged with the alleged abduction of his severely ill 3-year-old son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, last December from the Atlanta home of the boy's mother.

A cross-country search for the missing boy and his father led investigators to the 10-acre (4-hectare) plot outside Amalia, near the Colorado border. Eleven children, ranging from one to 15 years old and described by authorities as clothed in rags and starving, were placed in protective custody after 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 are awaiting autopsy results to identify the remains.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and his wife, Jany Leveille, along with his brother-in-law and sister - Lucas Morton and Subhannah Wahhaj - and a second sister, Hujrah Wahhaj, were each charged with 11 counts of felony child abuse.

Prosecutors have alleged that all five adults conducted weapons training with their children "in furtherance of a conspiracy to commit school shootings."

It was on that basis that prosecutors filed petitions with state District Judge Sarah Backus seeking to keep the five detained without bail. No charges related to the weapons allegations had been filed prior to Monday's hearing.

The weapons training allegation stemmed from a statement by a foster parent now caring for one of the children, prosecutors said.

Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe has referred to the suspects as "extremist of the Muslim belief." In an interview with CNN aired on Monday, Hogrefe said his comment was based solely on their appearance.

"You can look at their mug shots, their pictures, their dress, their attire. They fit that profile. That was not meant to be a derogatory statement towards any race or religion," he told CNN, adding it was also not meant to imply violence.

Wahhaj was heavily armed when arrested, police said. (Reporting by Andrew Hay, Writing by Steve Gorman; editing by Robert Birsel and Tom Brown)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)