Fox News's Katherine Lam reports that three mothers of 11 malnourished children found living in a filthy New Mexico compound were arrested and charged yesterday along with two men described as "armed Muslim extremists" after police raided the property searching for a four-year-old boy.
Jany Leveille, 35; Hujrah Wahhaj, 38, and Subhannah Wahha, 35, were arrested and charged with neglect and child abuse. The three women, found at the compound in Amalia, initially refused to answer questions.
Siraj Wahhaj, 39, and Lucas Morten also face child abuse charges.
The Albuquerque Journal reported police raided the compound Friday as part of their search for four-year-old Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, who disappeared last December. Abdul-Ghani’s mother reported her son missing after Wahhaj took the boy to the park in Clayton County, Ga., and didn't return.
Police did not find the four-year-old during the search but did discover children ranging from ages 1 to 15 living in what Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe described as “the ugliest looking, filthiest” living conditions he’d witnessed. He said he only saw some potatoes and a box of rice.
Hogrefe said they found the “occupants were most likely heavily armed and considered extremist of the Muslim belief.”
When police arrived, Wahhaj was armed with an “AR-15 rifle, five loaded 30-round magazines, and four loaded pistols, including one in his pocket,” said Hogrefe.
